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LdwardO.TlhEyck 



Adirondack Committee. 1898. 




R.B.6MITH 



CLEHK. SEHUEAXT-AT-AKMS. 

Adirondack Committee, 1S9S. 



THROUGH 



THE ADIRONDACKS 



IN 



EIGHTEEN DAYS 



'/. 

By MARTIN V; B. IVES 



Wynkonp Hallenbeck Cr.iwford Co., 

State Printers, 

New York and Albany. 

1899. 



t&b9. 







40864 

1899, by M. V. B. W( 



Copyright, 1899, by M. V. U. Ives. 









Preface. 



I have no good reason to assign, or excuse to oflfer, for 
the publication of tins \V()rk, except the eai-nest re(piest 
and solicitation of my fellow committeemen. 

Its lines of narration, as will be noted, are not wholly 
original, but liave l)een selected from well-lcnown authors, 
to whom I here acknowledge warm obligation. 

The work was originally intended for a legislative report, 
as all who spend the time and do me the honor to read it 
will observe. But on account of its voluminonsness it was 
thought best to transmit a synopsis of the same to that 
body, and to submit the original to the general public. 

This book is therefoi-e dedicated to all who are of hunter 

breed and blood and ai-e interested in the preservation of 

the forests. 

The Author. 



Contents. 



Pivf:u'e ....... 

Tliroui^li tlie Adiiondacks in KiLiIitt'cn Days 

( 'li;iiiii>laiir,s Stui'v ..... 

At A usable Chasm Hotel 

At St. Hubert's luii .... 

The Adiiiiiitlack Mountain Keserve 

Visit to John Brown's Grave 

The Stevens House ..... 

From Lower Saranac Lake to Paul Smith's 

At Saranac Liu ..... 

Early settlers about Saranac and Tup^ier i^akes 

Story of the Mad Lidian Spii'it and Other Stories 

At A.\ton, on the Racquette lliver . 

On Deck for Raccjuette Lake . 

Pocket Edition Steamboats 

Back to the Antlers .... 

Return to Civilization .... 

Deer in St. Lawrence County . 

The Birth of the Hmulet of Childwold 

From Childwold Park to Potsdam 



I'AGK 

;{ 

7 

CHAPTER 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

vn 
vni 

IX 

X 

XI 

xn 
xin 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

xvu 

XVIII 



THROUGH THE ADIRONDACKS 



IN 



EIGHTEEN DAYS. 



"In Assembly, March 31, 1898. 

'^' Resolved, That the Speaker of the Assembly a}>pMiiit .'i 
special committee of nine members to continue the investi- 
gation as to what more lands shall be acquired a\ itliiii the 
Forest Preserve, in oi'dei' to protect the watershed and for 
the Agricidtural Experimental Station. Such committee 
shall have power to prosecute its intpiiries in every <lirec- 
tion necessaiy t() arrive at a full and accurate knowledge 
of the subject. Such committee shall I'eport the ivsult of 
its investigations to the Legislature not later than Feb- 
ruary 1, 1899, together with such recommendations as t(^ 
necessary legislation as it may deem advisable." 

On or about August 1, 1898, the Speaker, Mr. James M. 
E. O'Grady, named the following gentlemen as such com- 
mittee ; 

James H. Pierce, of Essex ; Cornelius J. Clark, of Jef- 
ferson ; Nicholas J. ]\Iiller, of Eiie ; Chai-les A. Sloan, of 
Schuyler; Edward Cx. Ten Eyck, of Onondaga; Martin V. 
B. Ives, of St. Lawrence; George T. Kelly, of Albany; 
Joseph I. Green, of New York ; Daniel E. Finn, of New 



8 TnRoi<;ii thk Adikondacks. 

York. But ]Mr. Kelly, of Albany, l)eing unable to go, Mr. 
Doininick F. MuUaiiy, of New York, was sulistitutcd in his 

jjlace. 

Said coiiiniittcr iiit-t at Saratoga on August 2.-5, 1898, and 
ortfanized by the election of James H. Pierce as chairman 
and Ivay B. Smith as clei'k. Fred B. Keefer was appointed 
mesvsenger; ami James C. Crawford, the sergeant-at-arnis, 
and Archie Stewait Hamilton, his assistant, attended upi>n 
the committee. 

On the morning of the -2()th of August, 1S<)8, the com- 
mittee left Saratoga via the 1). tk H. R. R. for a personal 
examination, so far as it was pi'acticable, of the lands within 
the Adirondack Park and Forest Preserve. 

On leaving Saratoga one enters at once, if he travels 
north, a country where every rock, tree and hill lias an ab- 
oricinal history, for around and al)out them 2(H) years ago 
various Indian ti'ibes contended for the possession of that 
locality foi- hunting grounds. For 100 years, and perhaps 
more, the triljcs of the Five Nations — -to wit, the ]\rohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas— occupied the 
country south of the Adirondack mountains in Ne\v York 
State, the Hurons and Algonquins claiming all of the terri- 
tory noi'tli of the mountains, including theCanadas; hence, 
all the lands between the jNlohawk and the St. Lawrence 
Rivers became Itattle grounds. 

Back and forth over the intervening mountain ranges 
these savage tribes contended perhaps for centuiies before 
the white man a[)peareil on the scene. Strange to say, the 



Throtjgit the AninoNnACKS. 9 

iKU-tlicrii trilics (Iliiinns and .Vlu'nn(|iiins), aitlioiiuli iiiui'li 
less iiuiiicrous, w cri' licttci' ti<;"Iit('i's, aiitl fof this i-casdii 
iisiiallv u'ot the licttci' uf ilicir sniitlifrn Kictliicii in their 
pitchfil liaf ih's, (liif ihi iluiiltt t<i the I'act that they wei'e 
]ili\ sifall\ iiKH't' \i<i'(>i'(»iis iiH'ii, l)ettcr al>l(* to stiiii'l the fig- 
oi-niis cliinatc lit' the culii imrtii i-ciiiiiti-\ tliaii f hcii' sdiithcni 
iiciL;hltt)rs. It is, no ddiilit, tor these reasons tliat we liml 
to-day iiian\ more Indian liatth- signs on tiie soiitliern tliaii 
on the northei'ii shijies and \alh'\s of thi^ A<lirondaeks. 
This state of affairs eontinue(l nntil July .">U, Itjo'.), wlien 
one Samuel De ('ham|ilain, a \('nturesoine Freneliman, <in 
the west or New York shoi'e of tlie lake that now hears 
his name, tired his old tliiitdock, liell-muz/led Munderlniss 
at the leaders of a war |>arl\ of one of the tiihes, killing 
three of them, and thereliy demonstrating the superiority 
of the musket over the toinahaw k, spear and arrow, the 
arms of the red men of that age. Fr<im that time on those 
old ti'iltes have nielteil a\va\ like a eake of ice in a hot day 
until scarcely a |iure descendaut of any of them can he 
found in the State to-ilay. Tlnise old red men left a name, 
however, for nearly every rixt-r, lake and mountain w itliin 
their res[)ective domains, which th<' white man promjitly 
ignored, substituting .such common names as Sandy Hill, 
Fort Filward, (ilens Falls, etc., which are all right enough, 
liut when in an Indian connti'y it seems l)etter to stick to 
Indian names. 

We passed througli the ahove-mentioned villages, at 
which the train stopped, hut our committee did not. We 
were informed, however, that they were thriving little 



10 Through the AnmoNnACKS. 

towns, all of wliioli had tlirilling Indian legends to link them 
to the past. Presently we reached Glens Falls, and learned 
that the Indian name for this is or was "Che-pon-tuc," 
meaning a hard place to get around, but the committee got 
around it all right, for the to^vii was not on our list for in- 
spection. From a well-posted inhabitant we obtained the 
following infoi'ination : Tliat the city had 13,000 inhal)it- 
ants, and was a market place of no small dimensions ; that 
it had inan\' fine hotels, eight chui'ches, a fine high school, 
an opera house, four banks, an armory, electric lights, street 
cars, about twenty lager beer saloons, and, as an offset, a 
small but loud shouting Salvation Army. 

History relates that a gentleman by the name of Abra- 
ham Wing once owned the whole territory round about 
that city, and erected there in an eai'ly day a grist and saw 
mill, but, getting tired of the business, sold the whole tract 
to one Johannes Glenn for the price of a wine supper. 
The historian slurringly remarks that he sold his birthright 
for a mess of pottage ; that he parted with his realty for 
the price of a high-toned one night's drunk. And yet per- 
haps the old man was not so much of a " chump " after all. 
Tlie writer's experience is somew^hat limited — not often has 
he joined in the song of those who sing, "We won't go 
home 'till morning" — Imt judging from the land to be seen 
from the car \viudow in that vicinity one would be in- 
clined to say that the old man Wing got the best end of 
the bargain. At any rate, tlie pul)lic profited l)y tlie trans- 
fer, for (rlens Falls sounds much better than Wings Falls. 



i 



Through the Adirondacks. 11 

Much of tlie laml between the Falls and Caldwell, on 
Lake George, is sandy and utilized for raising buckwheat, 
commonly called starvation's land. Perhaps it would not 
be out of place to remark here that a great part of tlie land 
on the immediate southern slojic of the Adirondack Moun- 
tains is of a light sandy soil, upon which in many places is 
a stunted growth of Norway pine. I)oul)tless during the 
Glacial Epoch, when Dame Nature was distributing soil and 
boulder clay over tlie Adirondack Tegi<m, its high pejvks 
formed a sort of dam whidi held ])ack the more solid drift 
to settle on their northern slopes, permitting only the 
lighter sands, or, as it is called, modified drift, to flow over 
to their southern sides ; hence, the difference in size of tree 
growth, for tlie northern slopes of the Adirondacks are 
noted for their mammoth growth of timber. 

At Caldwell, a small hamlet at the head of Lake George, 
we changed fiom the cars to the steamer Horicon, which 
stood waiting, and were soon pkiwing our way toward tlie 
foot of the lake. 

It is difficult to adequately describe the beautiful 
scenery of Lake George. Others who can wield a pen 
infinitely better than the writer have failed to fully 
describe its beauties. It lias, however, been I'ightly named 
the " Queen of American Waters." It is practically a 
large spring, for its waters a few feet l>elow the surface are 
as cold as ice; they are also pure and soft, clear as crystal, 
and have a peculiar color, a deep blue-green. Its tributary 
streams are short, headed by springs. Its banks close 



IL' Tllltormi TIIK AniKONDACKS. 

ildwn to llie water's edge are well covered with timber, 
dense witli Foliage. Its shores slope back in some places 
gradually, and in others abruptly into hills and nioun- 
tains, towering in one place, at least, two thousand feet 
above the surface of the lake. 

The lake is thirty-six miles long, its greatest width four 
miles, ;ind its greatest depth one hundred anil ninety-six 
feet. It has two huutlivd and twenty islands, all of them 
gems of beaut\, and ail l)ut seventeen are owned by the 
State. Its waters are well stocked with vai'ious kinds of 
trout and lilack Itass. It is three hundred and forty-six 
feet abo\e title water and two hundred and twenty-seven 
feet above the surface of Lake Champlain. 

The captain of our good ship seemed to l>e given to 
loquacity, whii'h was fortunate, as from him the writer 
ol>taincil nnicli \ ahiable information. In fact, Captain 
Harris appeared to enjoy talking and being talked to. His 
stump speeches desci'ibing the lake and its sui'roundings as 
we steamed alon<^ over its surface, althous;h somewhat 
Jundio-like in t'haracter, were, to say the least, interesting 
and \ei\ useful to the wi'iter, enabling him to obtain 
neaily all the history herein recorded in regard to the lake. 
Short ly after leaving Calilw ell our captain came on deck, 
and jiroceeded to deliver his first lectnre, as follows: 

" The tiist point extending out into the lake is Tea Island, 
and just bevond is seen Tongue Mountain and a little to 
the right the i-ouiid top of Shelving Rock Mountain. Two 
miles beyond Tea Island is loi-ated Diamond Island, and 



TlIKDrCII TlIK AliIltOMiACKS. 13 

])ey(iiiil ,in<l behind DiainiPiiil Island is Loug IsLukI. About 
two miles lidiii tliis island, on the I'i^lit, is IMinii Point, near 
wlaicli is tlie summer home of the Paulist Fathers, at the 
east i>i" wiiii'li is seen Frencli Mniintain, and hack toward 
tilt' south, almost hidden l)y the trees, ai'e tin- iiiins of nld 
Fort George. Toward the west, anil back of us, is I'i'ospect 
mountain, w ith its shining- railroad track IVoiu top to bottom." 

At this point the captain was called lielow. Some of oiii- 
New \<>vk meniliers suggested ten minutes for refresh- 
ment, but this \\as not fair, for oin- capt.iin was not that 
kind of ;i ni.nn. However, he soon reappeared, and from 
that time on he pointed out niountaiiis, harbors, islands, 
bays and hotels, and reeled off Indian legends until we 
were so confused that we did not trv to keep close tab on 
his tales thereafter, except to note those that were the most 
pecidiar and to remembei' as near as possible his Indian and 
Ilevoliitioiiar\ legends. 

Said he: "Tea Island is noteil, it is said, because Genei'al 
Abercrombie buried i^-old ami other \alual)les there once 
upon a time ; the surface of the island has been dug over 
at different times i)y treasure seekers. Doubtless the true 
Solution of the siuface distiiiliaiice is, as Colonel Sellers 
says, hog.s. Diamond Island is so called because fine (piartz 
or rock crystals are found there. Diaiiiond Point, where 
crystals are .also found, has a storv connected with it. 
Many years ago an Indian by the name of Sam])son P.iiil 
when out trolling for trout caught on to a weai'\ panther 
that was swimming the lake, towed him ashore at this 
point and killed him with a fi.sh spear." 



14 Through the Adirondacks. 

A very good story, and I am sorry to spoil it. But old 
liuiiters say that panthers never swim, and that they never 
wet their feet in the water unless forced to do so. 

Cramer Point furnished another wonderful story. The 
Point is said to have been an island owned by the 
State. A very pious man by the name of Cramer owned a 
point on the main land jiittiug out into the lake towai'd the 
island, which said Cramer coveted. One night he fervently 
prayed that a land connection between the point and the 
island might be made, and when he looked out on the lake 
in the morning, lo and behold! it was done. 

To prove the truth of this story the captain will call youi- 
attention to a narrow strip of land that connects the point 
with the island. 

Reid's Rock was pointed out to us, which has a modern 
history not so pleasant. "A man named Reid wandered out 
there one cold autumn night wlien on a drimk, lay down on 
this rock and died, and was foimd there the next morning 
frozen stiif." Our committee were of one mind that 
a mistake was made in naming the rock after Reid ; that 
good judgment forbids the erection of a stone monument or 
the naming of a granite rock in memory of a drunkard in 
such a beautiful lake as that. 

The State has recently caused many of the islands to 
be renamed, one of Avhich bears the peculiar name of 
" Jogues." The captain informed us that something over 
two hundred years ago this man, accompanied by a party 
of white men, encamped on the island one night ; that a 



THROUOn THE AKIRONPArKS. 15 

party of Indians discovered and surrounded them, and 
after tlie weaiy white men liad gone to sleep tlie savages 
fell upon and hilled them all. There was some wisdom 
displayed in naming this island. 

The exact place was also pointed out to us where on the 
25th of July, 1757, Col. Jnlin Parker and Iiis command of 
400 Englishmen were attacked by a large Indian war party, 
but on account of the English having uuwield}', large and 
unmanageable boats, and the Indians being provided with 
light, birchbark canoes, the latter had the advantage, owing 
to the supple management of their crafts, and imju'oved it 
to the extent of killing oi' captui'ing neai'ly all of the Eng- 
lish force. History states that 131 white men were killed, 
12 escaped, and the balance were taken prisoners. One 
Father Roubard, a Jesuit priest, who was either with the 
English or visited the spot the next day, relates that the 
Indians cooked and ate some of the younger and more 
tender Englishmen, and that some of the cooked liuman 
tiesh was offered him, which he refused, at the same time 
attempting to remonstrate with them, but received this 
answer : " You have French taste ; I have Indian. This food 
is good for me.'' Although this last statement is the testi- 
mony of a priest, yet the reader is not called upon to believe 
any more of it than he can reasonably digest. This is, so 
far as I know, the only record of our North American 
Indians being accused of cannibalism. 

Our attention was also called to Deer Leap Mountain, 
from the top of which a deer once leaped to escape from a 



10 ThUUUGII TllK Adiuo.ndacks. 

pack of howling bloodliouiids. At the base and ainiiiid 
the sides of this iiiduiitain is said to be one (if tlie phices 
where rattlesnakes abonml in this State. Just east of this 
is Hog Back Hill, wliei'e <>nce upon a time a whole encamp- 
ment of Indians was put to death by a party of white men 
led by a man named Rogers. Just as the victorious white 
men were about to leave, howevei', one of their party found 
a young Indian papoose strapped to a piece of bark stand- 
ing up against a tree. Some one of the party suggested 
that the babe be allo^^•ed to live, but Rogers, being not 
oiil\- l)ra\e but brutal, dashed the youngster's head against ' 
a I'ock, excusing his ci-iuie by claiming that the brat \vas a 
nit, and if let grow would become a louse. 

The old captain told us that in the palmy days of hound- 
ing he had often seen on one trip as many as two dozen 
deer swimming in the lake. 

Finally and lastly, our attention was called to Rogers' 
Slide Mountain. a\ liich has a most remarkable history. The 
committee had accepted, A\ith a mild protest, all of the 
captain's stories up to this \\ith becoming credidity, but 
here we drew the line and informeil the old skipper that 
unless he hauled in his horns a little this story wouhl be 
his last, but our petitions were vain, as the reader will note. 

Rogers' Slide is a mountain on the \vest side of the lake, 
neai'ly or (juite 1,000 feet high; at least 500 feet of its 
eastern base is a bai-e I'ock, which lacks a cousideral)le of 
being as smooth as marble and but little of being as steep 
as a haystack. This sharj) incline extends down to and 
into the watei's of the lake. The story is as follows : 



Tnitoiiiiii TiiP; AniuuNKAcKs. 17 

"In file wiiitt'i- of 17."J>i (Hie Itoln-rt Kor^ers, l>eiiit^ in that 
locality with a paity of his i-aii^i'is i<\\ a rt'cunnuitciiiiL.'' ex- 
pedition, when nt'ar tiiis pii-ciiiicc, whidi was tlicii calliMl 
BaM Mdiiutaiu, met a [larty '>( Iinliaiis, ami in tlic skiiniisli 
tliat t'dllowfd Royers l)ecame s('|iaiatc<l I'nuii his |i«it\-. ( h\ 
liciiiLf j)ursu*'(l l>y the savai;vs he nia(h' fur this iiniiinlain 
slide, down w hii-h he pi'oceeded l<i slip, and made his 
escape, rejoining liis party. The Indians pnrsncd liini to 
the juni[iini;' oft' place and saw hini eseapinir on the ice 
below, at which they entered no pi'otest. concluding that 
anj' human being who t'oidd make that rough, rocky slide 
and live must l)e under di\ine ]irotection; lieuce, Rogers 
was alloAved to go free." 

Our connuittee, however, were unanimous in the opinion 
that any man to luake that slitle sitting down, as it could 
be made no other way, must have l»een provided with 
metal reenforcemeuts, else he wduld have been worn off up 
to his arm pits. They so e.\[)ressed tliemselves to the cap- 
tain, who, seeing that we \\ere determined to doubt the 
stories which he had told so manv times as to almost begin 
to believe them himself, concluded to drop them at least 
on this trip. Our Tanunany Hall mend>ers remai-ked to 
him as he disappeared below that he liad bettei' smoke up; 
that his pi[ie had gone out — whatever tliat may mean. 

At Baldwin, near the foot of the lake, we again boaided 

a train foi' Lake C'hamplain, ])assing through the village of 

Ticonderoga, where we made no stop, but leained that it 

was a thriving village of about 2,(iOn inhabitants, Avhere, 

2 



18 TlIKdlCII TIIK AdIRONDACKS. 

on account of its excellent water power, large manufactur- 
ing plants are located. Two miles farther on we arrive at 
the lake station, called Foi-t Ticonderoga, on Lake Chani- 
[»lain. The Indian name for Lake Champlain was " Cani- 
adere-quarante," meaning the lake that is the gate of the 
country. It received its present name, however, in the 
year 1609, after Sauuu'l T)e Champlain, who, it is said, was 
the first white man that looked out upon its shining waters. 
History has it that in that year Champlain, a venturesome 
Frenchman, in command of a party of Canadian hunters 
and tourists, sailed south from the St. Lawrence River, and 
on the 29th of July met a band of Iroriuois Indians equal 
in number to his own party. Champlain's description of 
the battle that followed is so (piaint that I am sure the 
reader will pardon me if I give his account of it. A 
veteran of the civil ^var, I fear, Avill not regard it as much 
of a l)attle, it being nothing more than one discharge from 
an old-fashioned flintlock, bell-muzzle musket at three 
plumed chiefs, who seemingly purposely grouped them- 
selves together to receive its scattering charge. 




a 

< 
a 
o 
J 



Through tiik Akikhmiacks. 19 



CHAPTER I. 

CHAMPl.AINS STOm'. TAKEN l-KOM HISTOID. 

I li'l't the i-;i])i(ls of till' ri\cr >>\\ tlic l'<1 >>\' .h[\\ , TiOO. 
On coining' within two or tlii-<-c (l;i_\s" j(iiirnc\ of the 
I'liciiiv's (|iiai1('rs we traxclcil niily 'i\ iiiL^Iit and fcstcd hy 
(lay. At niu'litl'all wc t-inliafki'il in mw canoes t() cnntinur 
iiiif ji>m'ne\, and as we adNaiiced \ ery softly and noise- 
lessly we eiiconntefed a wai- |iai-t\ 111' IriMjiiois, at a point 
of a cape which puts out into tin- lake nil the west siile, on 
the ■JlMh of the month, alHiiil lo cM-lnck at ni<,di(. They 
and we bepiii to shout, each seizing' his arms. We with- 
drew toward the water, and the\ rejiaircd nn shnrc, and 
ai-raiiued all their canoes, the mie heside thi' other, and 
Ijegan to hew down trees with villainous axes, which tliey 
sometimes y-et in war. and others of stone, and fortitie<[ 
themselves very secnreh . Our part \ likewise kejit their 
canoes jirranged tlie one aloiiii'side the other, tied to poles 
so as Hot to run ailrift, in order to ti^ht altogether if need 
be. We were on the water and alioiit an arrow shot from 
their liai'ricades. When they w t'le armed and in order they 
sent two canoes from the fleet to know if their enemies 
wished to tiiilit, who answer<'d that they desire<l nothing 
else, Imt just then there was not much light, and we must 
wait for day to distinguish each other, and that the\ 
would give us liattle at sunrise. (No true soldier could 
liiid fault with that arrangement.) This was agreed to by 



lift Thuough the AdIHONDAiKS. 

our puity. Meanwhile (Ik* whole night was spent in 
dancing and singing, as well on one side as the other, 
niingh'd w itli iiitinitndes of insnlts and other taunts, such 
as the little courage they had, how powerless their resist- 
ance against our amis, and when day would ])reak they' 
should experience that to their ruin. It seems that they 
kept this sort of a woi'd battle up all night, twitting each 
other with being cowards, until daybreak. My companions 
and 1 were always concealed, for fear the enemy would see 
us, piepaiing oui' ai'uis the Ijest we could, being however 
separated, each in one of the canoes. After being equipped 
with light armor, we took each an arquebuse and went 
ashore. I saw the enemy leave their barricade ; they were 
about two hundred men of robust appearance, coming 
slowly toward us, and w ith a gra\ity and assurance which 
greatly pleased me, led on by three chiefs. Oui's -was 
marching in similar order, and told me that those who bore 
three lofty plumes were the chiefs, and that I must do all 
I coidd to kill them. The moment we landed we began to 
run a!)out two hundred- paces toward the enemy, who 
stood firm, and had not yet perceived my companions Avho 
went into the bush with some savages. Ours commenced 
calling me in a loud voice, and making way for me, opened 
in two, and placed me at their head, and marched al)out 
twenty paces in advance until 1 was ^vithin thirty paces of 
the enemy. The moment they saA\' me they halted, gazing 
at me, and 1 at them. When I saw them preparing to 
shoot at us, I raised my arquebuse, and, aiming dii'ectly at 



Through the Adiroxdacks. 21 

one of their chiefs, toiiclied it off; two of tlieni fell .-inil 
one f>f tlieir coiiiiiaiiioiis received a wnmid, linni \\ liicli he 
aftei'wards died. I had put I'oiii' Kails iutd my ar(|Ufl)Use. 
Ours in w itiiessiiiti; a shot so favorable to them, set 
iq.! such ticmcudous sliduts that thunder could not have 
been heard, and yet there was no lack of arrows on <)ne 
side and the otlier. The Iro(|iiois were greatly astonished 
seeing two men killed so instantaneously, notwithstanding 
they wt'i'e [ii-oNided with arrow jUdof ai'mm' wnven of cot- 
ton thread and wool, 'i'his fi'ighteiied them very much. 
WhiUi I was reloading, one of my com[iaiiioiis in the luish 
fired a shot \\ liich so astonished them anew, seeius their 
chief slain, that they lost courage, took flight, and aban- 
donded the field and their fo't, hiding themselves in the 
depth of the forest, whithei- pursuing them I killed some 
others. Our part}' also killed several of them, and took 
ten or twelve prisoners. The rest carried oif the w oun(h'd. 
Fifteen or sixteen of oui's were wounded by arrows, but 
were promptly cured. After having gaineil the victory, 
they amused themselves l)y plundering Indian corn and 
meal from the enemy, also tlieii' ai'ias, which the\- had 
thrown (low 11 in order to run the l)etter; after having 
feasted, sung and danced, we retii'ed, three hours after, 
with the prisoners. 



And yet a large lake has l)een named after this man, or 
rather he named it after himself, which would seem to be 
characteristically c(msistent, and but a short time ago the 



22 Through the Aun(((NiiAGKS. 

old liistorioal ;iiiil miic-li revered city of (^)iu'l)e(', Canada, 
erected .iiid dedicated a iiKnimiu'iit tn liim as tlie fnmider 
of tlicir city. W'lio shall sav that l>ravci-y and veracity do 
not ultimately get their just rewards ! 

Arris ins at Ticoiideroua hindiiiir, we wei'e soon on Itoai'd 
the commodious steamer Vermont and on oui' Avay down 
the L-ike. Al>out one mih' north of the landing tliere still 
stands some -of the old tuiul)le-<lo\\ n walls or ruins of the 
once famous Fort Ticonderoga. Outlines of its trenches, 
breastworks, moat, bastions, etc., can still be plainly noted 
and traced. To one man is due more than to any or all 
others connected w ith its history the credit of its historical 
notoriety, Col. Ethan Allen of \"ei'mont, commander of the 
(xreen Mountain Boys, \vho cajitured that stronghold one 
morning, with a handful of men, in the name of the Great 
Jehovah and the Continental Congress, and gave to the fort 
a name that w ill last until long after every trace of its 
outlines is obliterated. 

The fort was built by the French in 1737, and was then 
called Cai-rolton, its location being at the point where the 
crooked, nari'ow creek which twists its way do^vn to this 
point from White Hall begins to expand into something of 
the character of a lake. The fortification \\ as thought to 
be of great importance on account of its conunandiug loca- 
tion, guai'ding as it did the gateway between the northern 
and southern pai-ts of the State of New York. After 
building it the French held it for some time, (^n July 8, 
1758, the English attacked and stormed it with a large 



Thkough the Adirondacks. 23 

force, commanded by Al)ercrombie, and failed, with fearfid 
loss of life. Tliev ilid nut i^'ive np, however, l>iit finally 
captured it with a large force under General Andieist 
in 175U. The Americans capturcil it with a s(piad of men 
under Ethan Allen in ITTT), and it fell into the hands 
of the Entrllsh aa-ain in 1777. 

It would seem that the French, Knglish and Aniciicans 
all wanted it as a child wants a toy, hut it never amounted 
to anytliing after they got it, for the sini[ile reason tliat it 
guarded nothing, ju-otected notiiing, and did nothing l>ut 
furnish a boneof contention over which gallons (if human 
blood were spilled fighting foi- nothing; hence its early 
ruin. 

Doubtless the heroic cajiture of the fort by Colonel 
Allen and his incn ami the (Ictcrniined i-ing of his <-harac- 
teristic and brave demand for its suriender did much to 
bring out the heroic and sturdy character of the American 
soldier of that time. Who can tell how far the famous 
words of Colonel Allen went towai'ds convincing our 
enemy, the English, of the utter hopelessness of ever con- 
quering or subduing such fearless men ? 

Lake Champlain is 118 miles long, 12 miles at its widest 
place, and its greatest depth is 399 feet. Its altitude is 99 
feet aliove tide water. Commanding as it does a charnnng 
view of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adiron- 
dacks of New York, and dividing as it also does two States 
of the United States, witli the Doiiiinion of Canada touch- 
ing its northern end, a trip through it by daylight gives an 



24 THUOUiiii THE Adihondacks. 

interest wliicli it otherwise would not have if located w lioUy 
ill one State. Such scenery as seen along its i-oute does 
much to make one feel pnuid of his American citizenship, 
:in<l especially is this true when tlie tourist happens to 1)6 a 
resident of New York or \'ermont State. Within the past 
few veai's tine suminci' liotels have been Ituilt on tlie 
nortliei'H shore of the lake, among whicli is Hotel Cham- 
[)iain, situated about two miles south of Plattsburg on a 
commanding bluff of sufficient height to pei-mit its guests 
to look out upon extended and magnificent land and water 
scenery. Tlie hotel has become somewhat noted, from the 
fact that it has been honored as the summer outing place 
of President McKinley. 

We spent the night at Hotel Witheivll, Plattsburg, 120 
miles, from Saratoga. 



Thkouch Tin: Adikonhai ks. 



CHAPTER II. 

AT AUSABLH CHASM HOTEL. 

TIic cnmiiiittee left Phittsburt'' (Hi tlif inoi-niii"- n{' the 
2Ttli of August hy team foi' Ausable C'liasiii Hotel, jit 
wliicli we aiTurd at 1 |i. in., in time {'m (liiiiicr. 

'I'liis liinisc is located oii the west shore of I^ake Cliain- 
plaiu oil ;iii ele\ateil plateau, aud li;is inndi to coiinneud it 
as a suinuier resort hotel. Tlie Green Mountains in the 
.smoky distance away oxci- in \'erinont and the .Xdiinn- 
(lacks as a l)acku'round on the New York side, with the 
plaeid waters of the lake in front, ren<ler the view fioui 
the veranda of the hotel eaptivating, to sa\ the least. 

After dinner the coniuiittee proceeded to explore the 
now famous Aus;d)le ( 'h;ism, which is Ix'yond dispute one 
of the most interesting sights that can be found anywhere 
east of the Rocky Mountains. At the foot of a little hill, 
sloping northw aid from the hotel, stands an octagonal house 
■that will bear inspection. It would be well to note the 
colored lights in its windows, a view fi'om wliich suggests 
fairy lands. Passing through the ImihHng, after paying the 
captain in chaige for the privilege of the Chasm, including 
boat ride, we at once descend a Ioiil^-, winding st;tir\\ay, 
consisting of a hundred steps or more, until we find our- 
selves at the bottom of the Chasm. The \ iew from tliis 
point looking upstream, even if one goes no farthei', is well 
worth the etfoit and e.xpense. Rainbow Falls, located 



2(; TrntoufJii THE Adiuondacks. 

just above, so called on acc-ouiit of its aecoinpanying rain- 
Itow on a ln'i^lit sunny day, with its abrupt descent of the 
waters of the A usable River soine seventy feet to the rocks 
below, add to this picture beauties not possessed 1)y any 
other waterfall in the State, and were it not foi' the fact 
that other and more rare attractions divert attention from 
the beautiful sight, they would be considered less grand of 
course, but a close second in interest to the Falls of 
Niagara. 

Just Ijelow the landing is Hoi'seshoe Falls, Avhere the 
bright waters of the river are churned into foam l)y coming 
in contact with a lot of loose rocks. Still below a few steps 
the Chasm makes an al)rujit turn. Should the tourist turn 
back here, he will have seen by far the most interesting 
sight. Looking backw ai'd the picture is charmingly beauti- 
ful, iuchiding as it does Rainbow and Horseshoe Falls. 
Looking downward, the Chasm with all its grandeur looms 
up before him. Ibit the guides say there are other and 
grander sights to come, and you go on up and do^\-n, in and 
out zigzag winding stall's, at the foot of which the initiated 
look instinctively foi' the two l)razen pillars called Boaz 
and Jachin, and later, when he ascends the labyrinthian 
stairvv'ays, consisting in this case of innumerable steps, he 
is still further reminded of the teachings and mysteries of 
the ancient craft. 

Still we go on, passing Pulpit Rock, towering (me hun- 
dred and thirty-five feet above the surface of the river, 
noting, as we go. Cleft Rock, with its imaginary elephant's 




Kai.nhow Falls— AnsABi.K Chasm. 




AusABLE Chasm— Table Rock. 

Copyright. ISS9. by S. R. Stoddard. 



Tni{(1i;iill THE ADIUONUArKS. 27 

lieati; still on, ovi'v iiariir.il |i;i\ fiiieiits of stone, siiiciotli ;intl 
(lr\, ^iianK^il. Ikiwcvit, \>y ;iii iron rail, lest accidents iiiight 
frequently occur. 

Hell Gate is the next station, at wliicli we conni^-t witii 
a small foot lii'id^c wliicli spans the Cliasni at this point 
Icadint;' to a cave i'ranicd info the solid rock. Still the 
travelei' uiaivlies on. notinn' as he does so the I)e\ iTs Punch 
Bowl, Jacob's Well, Mystic (rorge, Point of Kocks, Hyde's 
Cave, Smuggler's Pass and the Post Ottice, where everyone 
is expected to leave his caid oi' print, [laint or engrave his 
name among the clefts of the adjacent rocks for the benefit 
of those who follow Inm. All the places named have 
histories of more or less intei'est. 

After about one mile's walk up and down wooden stair- 
wavs, in many places liolte(l to the sides of the Chasm, and 
over long stone sidewalks, formed by setbacks in the trap 
formation of tlie Chasm walls, the i>oat landing is finally 
reached, the dock of w liicli is called Tal)le Rock, through a 
huge cra<-k in the lower edge of wliicli we file into the boat 
and prepare for a short l)Ut no\(d and exciting boat I'ide. 
The boat is of the old Maine lumbei'iiian pattern, called 
the liateaii, with l>ow and stern alike; that is to say, sharp 
at both ends, manned by a stnrd\ paddler or gondolier at 
either end. At command "All aboard," our entire ct>ni- 
mittee, with several tourists, climhed into the old craft, and 
after counting noses, it was found tliei'e were twenty-four 
passengers in all. which was, accoiding to the boatmen's 
knowledge, the largest load ever taken down the r;ipids. 



28 TiiiiorGii THK Adiroxdacks. 

Six rods after the start i.s an abrupt turn to the light. 
Arnuiui this corner we plunge at once into moderate rapids 
and i-un tlieni without distressing effect, and tlien drift 
ah)ng w ith tlie current tluough the Grand Flume, the rocks 
on either side rising vertically upward nearly two hundred 
feet. At this point one experiences miicli the same feeling 
as if he were in a deej) well. Howevei', that experience is 
short, foi' just het'oi'e us ap})ear more rapids, this time 
larsrer, more hazardous and excitins' than before — indeed, 
rocks were in sight beneath the milky wave. Once the 
boat impinged upon one of them, sending a copious splash 
of watei- over the passengers, and giving the writer a good 
soaking. Experienced boatmen a\ou1i1 have doubtless pro- 
nounced the undertaking somewhat dangerous, but our 
brawny gondoliers said there was no danger, all of which 
we did not believe. We made the rapids safely, and a few 
minutes later floated down to the flat rocks, which served 
as a landing Axharf at the foot of the Chasm, upon which 
we disembarked, muttering the \vords of Will Carleton ; 

"To appreciate Heaven well, 
It is good for man to have some fifteen minutes of hell." 

We were told that the Chasm was about t\\o miles h»ng, 
and that its deepest place was 200 feet. This statement 
will bear discounting, in our judgment, at least twenty-five 
per cent., Ijut the committee were unanimous in pronounc- 
ing it one of the most wonderful exhibitions of Dame 
Nature's handiwoik on this continent. 




AcsABLE Chasm— Grand Flume from Narrows up. 



Thkoikiii i-iii: Aiiiudnkacks. 29 

After passing tlirough the Chasm a reflective iiiiiul is led 
to imagine tlic design of the huiltli'r and tlic \\a\s and 
means of its eonstrnctinn. \\ lit-n and li<)\\ \va> it made? 
There an- t\\<> tJH'ui'ics. One is ci'osinn, or tlic wcaiin^;' 
action of water, and the dtln-r, n)ilifaval or disi-nption. 
Very little fvidtMicecan he t'oinid to snl)st;int.iate the formei' 
theory, except prrhajis an example of rock Ijoi'ing aliout 
indfway down and upon tin- west side of the Chasm, called 
Jacob's \\'i'll. UnmistakaMy water- working resnlts are 
here seen, and nmst have lieen of long duration. The 
well is a ronnd hole, twenty feet deep and some thirty 
inches across, which has been bored into the solid rock 1)\ 
the grinding of a loose stone in some sort of whirlpool 
action of the water when the stream ran at that level. 
Aside fi'oni this exhibition very few evidences of erosion 
are seen. ( )n the other hand, there is an abnndance of 
evidence to prove that convulsion <ii- disruption did the 
\vork. The absence of smoothing or wearing action of the 
waters on the rocky sides of the canyon ; in some places 
immense masses of nn-k on both sides of the Cliasm walls 
of the same thickness, ha\ ing the appearance of having 
been parted and burst asnnder li\ con\nlsioii, which, if 
again joined, would lit like jiapei- on the w;dl, while in 
others exactly contiary conditions exist ; correspoiuling 
strata found peiha]>s on one sicU' twenty feet above the 
other, plaiidy proving that one side nnist have received 
a greater convulsive shock than the other. All this was 
visible to the eye. The setdjacks in the rocky walls 



30 ThroTjOH the Adirondacks. 

of the Chasm which are pai-allel to it, all opening up 
stream, are quite muncrnus and in some places I'atlier 
deeji. Tlie caves all opening down stream, fuinish evidence 
enough to satisfy the most skeptical of its origin. 

It would seem that the gi-eat geologist Dana has fui-- 
nished alxmt the best reason for its cause. He says: 

'■ 1 Mirinu- the glacial and tlie next fullowing. the Cham- 
plain epoch, theie was an upward and downward move- 
ment of the lands in the vicinity of the St. Lawrence jiver 
and Lake Champlain — upward during the glacial and 
downward during the Champlain. Sea border deposits, 
such as the remains of whales and sea shells, fi>uiid in the 
vicinity of T^ake Champlain clearly pro\e that the lake was 
once a deep bay opening into the St. Lawrence river, which 
was an arm of the sea." 

Doubtless dunng the glacial epoch this crack in the 
earth ^vas made, and was crowded full of earth and stones 
by glacial ai-tion, which was afterwards washed out when 
the ice melted. 

Good roads prevail on the eastern slopes of the Adiron- 
dacks, which enabled the committee to greatly enjoy the 
twelve-mile trip from the Chasm to Ausable Forks, our 
route skirting the bank of the Ausable River nearly all the 
way. It Avas a charming ride through a beautiful valley. 
Our chairman, Mr. Pierce, ha\ing been born and raised in 
Clinton county, was able to point out ro us many places 
whi<di vears ago were models of industrv, teemiuc with 
life and labor, such as rolling mills, forges, foundries, nail 



Through iiii: Adikondacks. 81 

factories and iimi niakiii^ plants, all nf wliidi wcif caiiifil 
on successfully "u the l>anks of the A usable witliin his 
nieniory. Now old liuddinL;s, sinnkcMackt'iifd, window- 
les.s, leaky. \\atei'-soal<e(l and tnnildcd down, i-; all lliat 
ivniains of tliest' fxtrnshc industrii-s. »'^ti'anL;f as it may 
seejn, such old riiin> add to the |iictui't'S(|ut'n('ss of the 
seeiiei'V, for the reason that nature when left alone is a 
better landscape niakfi- and painter than human architects. 
.\ U-\\ miles east of the l^'orks, at a point where the ri\er 
and roatl almost iiiter.seet, .and where no evidence whatever 
was in sight to prove that it had ever l)een inhaliited, 
Chairni.in Pierce halted the teams and c.iUed tlie committee 
together, not for the puipose, as he said, of transacting any 
particul.ai' business, but for social i-easons. Back fiom the 
nver bank a few rods ;ii'e the outliiu's of what ajtpeared to 
be a liouse foundation, marked, Imwcver, by no underpinning 
stone, for none were used in the log house ]ia.sements in 
those days. iVfter the couunittee had assendiled around 
this ancient cellar. Captain I'ierce m.-ide the following an- 
uouiicemeut : "Seventy-two years ago to-(hiy, at about this 
hour, in a log house that then stood on the very spot where 
we now stand. I was liorn. Sergeant Crawford, ask the gen- 
tlemen what they will take." It is, pei'liaps, needless to 
state that we all took mountain dew in the shape of sjiring 
water that bubliled to the surface in a neighboring hill side, 
an<l proceeded to give the old Nctei'.nn of iron making his- 
tory and of oui' civil war three I'ousing cheers and w ished 
him many happy returns of his birthday. 



32 TllUoUdll rilK AuiliONDACKS. 

lu'siuiiiug our jouriR'V, )ve arrive at Ausahle Forks at 
about six o'clock, whicli is a little liauilct of almut 
500 iiilialiitaiits and tlic liouic of Senator Geoi-ge 
Chaliooii of the 'riiirty-lli'st Senatorial district. A sul)- 
counnittce, consisting of Ixcs from St. Lawrence and Millei- 
from Ki'ie, at once waited upon the Senatoi-, who coi'dially 
\\elcouie(| the committee, and after supper proceeded to 
show us tiif place by gaslight, or rather by moonlight, for 
the town is a little sliy of gas. In answer to the question 
as to the numl)er of its inhaljitants, the doughty Senator 
said that in his judgment " Our city is a little larger than 
Ogdeusburg, in St. Lawrence county ;" and yet, on being 
cross-questioned, lie admitted that tliey were a trifle short 
of 500 inhabitants. Escorted by the Senator and his sec- 
retary, Mr. Rogers, the committee visited their sulphite 
[)ul[> mill, which is located alxmt a mile above the village, 
and which we inspected witli much interest and some 
pain, knowing full well that it was t>ne of the greatest 
forest destroyers known to man. We were informed that 
it was one of the largest factories of its kind in America ; 
that its capacity was fifty tons of pulp pei' day, 125 cords 
of spruce wood being ground up every twenty -four hours. 
The mill is lighted by electricity, and a visit to it at night, 
passing through its wet, dingy and in some places dark 
corridors reminds one of a coal mine. There can be no 
disputing the fact that this and similar wood gorman- 
dizers are the most effective forest destroyers on earth. 




o 

« 

a 
o 

« 



Through ihk Ai)ii;nNDACKS. 3.'? 



CHAPTER III. 

AT ST. HIIRKRT'S INN. 

We figain cuntiiiiif mir trip 1)\ tt-.-iiiis frnin tlic Foi'ks to 
St. Hubert's Inn, ;i distance nf t\\ i-ntx •rcnii- niilr-. ( )ur 
ruiiil, an exceptiiinallx' l;'(i<i(1 onr, l;i\ alonL;' tli'' west licandi 
of the Ausalilf River ami up tlir I'aniinis Kecnc Nallcy, 
sometimes callt'd tlic Switzerland of .\nieiica, which is pi^i- 
haps a little o\'erdra\\n. xct there is no dispntiiii:' the fact 
that the scenery along this \alley has Kiit tew rivals on the 
American continent. 

At intervals uIoiil;' the loiite, evidences of ancii'iit thrift 
and iiidiisti-y are noticeable; staixling chimneys (pf old 
forges, tumble-down ir<in mills and \ acant tenement 
houses, once filleil by the families of the iron makei's; also, 
occasionally an enqity shack used by charcoal bui'iiers, 
beside the still standini;- kilns that were once used for 
makinu' charcoal. IJefore tiie flood of l.S,")('., the iiirtlidayof 
tile t|ow nfall of the iiidustiMes aloni;' that I'ivci', charcoal 
was used to melt the oi-es into \n<^ or half-liloom iron. 

AYe passed through the villages of Ipjiei' and Lovvei- 
-bay, Keene Center and Keene \'alley, the latter Iteing a 
summei- outing place of some note, which has some vei'v 
tine looking hotels, at whicii we did not stop, as we were 
bound foi- the head of Keene Valley, or St. llulx'i't's Tnn, 
where we arrived at "_' o'clock p. m.. extravagantly hungry, 
3 



34 TiiKoumi THK Adirdxdacks. 

I'di- it lias boeii olearlv (lemoiistrate.l tliat man cannot sul)- 
sist on mountain aii' and sccnci'v, no mattei' lio\\ nnicli tlic 
former may he charged with ozone or the hitter Avith 
Swiss-like beauty. Hence, w ith appetites sharpened by a 
six hours' liuckboard ride, we [iroeeeded to do full justice 
to the excellent dinner for which the fam(»us hostelry is 
noted. 

St. Hubei't, foi' whom the inn was named, was tlie son of 
Bertrand, Duke of Guienne, a keen huntei-, and, like Saul 
of Tarsus, was at rirst an unbeliever and given to wicked 
ways. For this reason, ]>ei'haps, he would not lie stopped 
from hunting on chui-ch holy-days. Being out hunting- 
one Good Friday, a stag appeared to him, having a shining 
crucifix between his antlei's, and he heard a w'arning voice. 
The legend does not state wliat liecame of the deer, but it 
does say that the holy-day breaker was converted, and 
adds that ever after St. Hubert became the patron saint of 
the hunters. 

The inn is located at a hio'li elevatiim, and vet the moun- 
tains that sui-i-ound and tower above it give its location a 
sort of an amphitheater-like appearance. It is situated 
nearly in the center of what is said to have been the old 
farm of Smith Beede, where he and his son Orlando found 
themselves forced, in self-defense, to become landlords, on 
account of the healthy locality. 

Many noted Adirondack mountains are in plain view 
from the veranda of the hotel, two of which are perhaps 
worthy of note. Directly east from the hiitel is seen Giant 



TnnoufJH the AniitoMiACKs. 35 

M()iiiit;iiii, with its cxnltcd ])(';il< tinilicrlcss .-iikI li.-ii'c ;iii(1 
the a[>|)c,ir;iiii'(' of h;i\iiiL: IkkI .1 Ml;- (iiIi <>( w liitcw ash 
spilled (hiwii its side. A closer iiis|iccti<iii iiia\ pfovc it ti> 
he lime inck, Init it' it is i:;eol(>gists will wnndcr Ik.w it ^ot 
thei'e, fni' jinie iiK-k is the |>i'oiliict of animal lite. If it is 
lime, it must have Keen |i|aiiled thei'e dui-iiiL;- the Cham- 
plain epoeli. when even that ohl Titan that n^w stands 
4,530 feet ali<>\e tide was then uiidei' watef. iNooinnai'k 
Momtain. dii-ectly s.inth trnm the hotel, is noted not so 
mnch fof its hei^-ht, it hein^- oidv .■'.,:")4U feet al)o\c tide, 
l>nt IjeeauM- the sun at IuliIi twelve shines directh ilown 
on its densely timbered to|i, lea\inu- no shadows Kehind. 

There afe two tine side trips from the hotel, one of w hidi 
we nnide on the aftei-uoon of out arri\al. Between Uoimd 
Top and ( iiant .Mountain, in fact, pasted up aL;-aiiist orduu'out 
of the side of the former, is a faith i;«>od wagon road leadiu"- 
to Port Henry, 20 miles away. Three miles up this road is 
Cluippel I'ond. By means of a tallydio coach the coin- 
niittee reached this pond at foui' o'cIo<-k p. m. Its Ijeiiig- 
located on State land gave it an additional interest. Win 
It lioi'e the name of C'happel no one seems to know ; more- 
over, we failed to see anv siiuu-estion that would warrant 
the name, for it is iiothint^ but a hu<;v puddle of clear 
water, held in |ilace in a bow l-shaped hole in the moun 
tains side, fed by spi-im^s, as there is no apj)arent inlet. 
Viirious kinds of tiimt iidiabit its waters. It is about oO 
rods across, nearly round, I'.OOO feet alcove tide, and is 
chietly remarkable for its distinctive echoes. The pre- 



36 TlIUOUGH TIJE AniHONDACKS. 

cipitous side of tlie niountaiu wIiIl-Ii rises alu'uptly sky- 
ward on its western l)anks arrests and sends back sounds 
almost as plain as the original. It did not take our city 
fi-iends long to find tliis out, and for the next hour such 
expressions as, "Hey, Riibel''' "Hello, Farmer!" "Ah, 
there, Hunter!" etc., were vocifei'ously sliouted across the 
[)oiid. So jilaiidy were their words returned that it took 
some time to convince oui- tender-footed city friends that 
there ^\'as not some hayseed hunter over on the mountain 
siile ])]aiidy hurling l)ack as good as they sent. 

Oui' return to the liotel was made on the top of a pon- 
derous tall}dio coach, diawn by four liorses, at railroad 
speed, most of the way down frightfully steep hills, with 
the abrupt side of the mountain on our left and a yawning 
gidch on our I'ight, a glance into which suggested the 
question of what would become of us should a Avheel run 
oft" its axle on our right. Foi'tunately we had an old 
Rocky Mountain expert handling the reins, and we made 
the hotel in Safety, arriving there about dark. 



Tiiitdidii iiii-: AniKONOACKS. ;{7 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE ADIRONDACK MOL'NTAIN Rh:SER\E. 

I'ii>iii|itl\- at <).:>0 till' next iiioriiiiiL;' the voice of Archie 
Stewart I laiiiiltoii. Assistant Sergeantat-Ariiis ( tlie Sergeant 
is a wliilnin I'xiwcrs dctcctix c )■ \\as Iicani riiii:'iiiL;' tlinuii^ii 
tin; u|i|ifr CMi-riiliiis nf ilic St. iliilicrt, slmiitiiig, "Time! 
(ientleiiifii I rime I" His voice liad so miicli >>( llif juizc 
ring I'liaracter tiiat we coni'liiilcd it meant liiisiiu'ss, so 
ol)e\0(l witli alaciit\ . ami were soon un our way again witli 
tile same <iiitlit, to-\\it, tlie mamnuitli tally-lin uf the 
miiiintain ritlc of tlie day l)eF(>fe. 

lU'l'ore starting out on our day's journey, liowcver, we 
were prevailed upon to make another side trip to the Lo\\er 
Aiisal)le Lake, three miles west over a very tine woods 
road, liuilt. we were iid'ormed. liy a prixate cluli, called the 
Adironilack Mountain Keserve, who own forty s(|uare 
miles of land in that \ icinity. No tindier is allowed to be 
cut, nor, u|i to tlie present time, has hunting been jiermitteil 
on the preserve. Fi.shing is allowed iu the lakes, by and 
with the consent of the resident snjierintendent in charge. 
The forest, extending all the way from the inn to the lakes, 
having ne\er l)een lumbered, still retains its primeval out- 
lines, with its mammoth hendock. spruce, pine, ma])Ie, ash, 
biixdi and beecli, all growing on tiie same soil, side by side, 



38 TiiROT'Gii THE Adiron-dacks. 

each our in liaiinoiiy with the other, tlie maple not asking 
tlic hemlock why it does not put on u lighter suit in sum- 
mei', iioi- the hemlock flinging back that it is better so than 
to go naked in winter; or the bii'ch to the pine, "You are 
too soft for youi- company," but all minding their own 
business, that of growing up towards high heaven, thereby 
exemplifying nature's example of harmony. If human 
beings would profit by their example, this \\ould indeed be 
a happy world. 

And yet the praiseworthy regulation on the part of the 
club's management to jireserve the game and the \voods in 
their primeval state is severely and roundly condemned by 
the old hunters and guides of that section, who complain 
that the rights and pi'ivileges which they have enjoyed 
freely since their bii'th have been curtailed and interfered 
with l)y such piivate ownershi}). Wide open laws in regard 
to timber and game seem to be what they most desire, which, 
if permitted, would speedily I'educe the Adirondack lands 
to barren waste and destroy all its wild game, which is one 
of its chief attractions. 

We often hear it said that the State cannot prevent the 
unlawful killing of game. This is a nonsensical mis- 
take. Private preserves succeed very well in pi'otecting 
game on their grounds, and w liy not the State on its lands, 
for surely the many ought to be stronger than the few. If 
more economy were observed in forest affairs, and the 
resultant savings used for procuring more competent and 
better paid protectors, appointing as such practical, experi- 



Through tue Adirondacks. 39 

encecl guides and old luinters wliu ai-e especially well fitted 
t(i nil the office of i;;une protectors, tlifii ami in that case 
tlic illegal slaughter of game in oui' forests would siiee<lily 
stop. 

The want of time ])revented a close inspection of the 
Upper and Lowei- Ausable Lakes, hut enough was seen of 
them to satisfy us that they were veritable gems of the 
Hrst water. l)eiiig among the first bodies of water formed 
on this continent. Imagine a deep notch between two 
loftv mountains tilled with clear cold water, and you have 
the picture before you. 'They are ea<-h al>out two miles 
long and are livei- like in appearance, for in no place are 
they over one-half mile wide. A visit to tliese lakes 
is well woi'th the making. 

Returning again to the inn, we at once proceeded on our 
journey to Lake Placid, a ride of 24 miles, by tally ho, 
our route being at first down the mountain to the \ illage 
of Keene \"alley, thence up, up, up until we reach the 
height of land, then down again, over the worst roads we 
have seen thus far, which lead through a defile or notch 
between Pitch Off and Long Pond Mountain, skirting- the 
banks of the Lower Cascade Lake on its northern side. We 
reached Cascade House for dinner. Tliis house is located 
at a point w heie a narrow strip of land separates the upper 
fi'oni the lower lake, and takes its name fi'om the cascade 
or a slender thread of water that comes tumbling over the 
mountain directly in front of the house, making, it is said, 
a plunge of 700 feet. Nature has done much for this place, 



40 TlIHOUGH THE Adihondacks. 

and lias fiiinislird a jn-nlilciii loi' the students of geology to 
solve along the line of erosion oi' water action. Tlie ujiper 
lake is some four feet highei' than the lower, and is sep- 
arated from it liy aliout eight rods of land. Thei'e is 
aliiiiidani evidence that at one time Itoth lakes ware one 
and that the separation was made by a landslide down the 
precipitous sides of the mountain, softened and pushed 
aloiigl)ya niiich larger stream of water than the present 
one. The ti'acdv of the slide can l>e ]ilainly traced even 
now, notwithstanding the fact that it must have taken 
place ages ago, as large forest trees are to-day standing on 
the grounil of the divide. 

The house is well kept, and is said to he noted for its 
trout dinners. The trout, however, failed to materialize on 
the date of oui' \ isit, and whitetish were substituted fresh 
fi-oiii Fulton mai-ket, New York. 

The balance of the day's trip of 10 miles to Lake Placid 
was over good roads, through an old farming section of 
fairly fertile looking lands, and we arrived at the Stevens 
House at six o'clock, where we halted for the night. 




o 

X 



7. 

is 
o 
a 
a 

z 

s 



Through thk Adirondacks. 41 



CHAPTER V. 

VISIT TO JOHN BROWN'S GRAVE. 

Tlic iiioi'iiiiiL;' lii'iikf ;i litdc iiiist\ ;niil cliUKh. Ic-in Iiil;' the 
committee in ddiiht as to jusj w liat wni'k to take up fiirtlii' 
(lay. Finally it was decided to visit -Inlin IJrowii's tiiave, 
w liicli is situated mi a plateau of cleai'ed laud railed 
Ui'owu's t'aiiii, snine three miles south of llie liotel, in tlie 
direction of Mount Maivy. 'Idle t'aiiii must lie credited 
witli occu|)yins;' one of the most commandiuL;' and siijlitly 
locations in the State, hut beyond thai it has hut little to 
reconuneiid it. We were told that the land was fii-st 
cleared and cultivated In that siiiuular old man. It is 
[)osMil)le that he succeeded in raisin;.;" somethiiii;' of a crop 
on its li<;]it saiuly soil immediately after the tirst Imrniny' 
away of its timliei-, liut toila}' it is ahout the most worth- 
less and l)arren farm in the State. Seeinini;iy no thrifty 
attempt is being made to raise a crop at the present time 
by its ancient old keeper, one Reuben Lawrence, who rents 
the place for the annual sum of fifty dollars. The only 
crop visible was about one acre of stunted, dwarfed oats, 
half eaten l)y grasshoppers. Quite likely the old fellow 
prefers to live on tourists rather than grain, and judging 
this to be so, he was liberally remembei'ed by the Adiron- 
dack Committee of 1898. The old house is still standing 
in the center of the clearing, once occupied by Osawatomie 
Brown, in which he spent some of the most important 



42 TuuuuGH THE Adirondacks. 

years of liis eventful life. Evidently special care has jjeen 
taken to preserve it. It contains a little seven-by-nine 
room on the east side, wliicli was used ]>y the old man as 
his study or office; in which, duulitlcss, tlic old martyr 
[ilaiiiied au<l oi'ganized one of the most (at least so it 
seemed at tliat time) fool liaidy campaigns ever conceived 
in the 1>raiii of man, wliich was, in short, to establish head- 
(piarters somewhere in the Southern States, arm the negroes 
willi spears, iF uotliiiiL;' bettci' pi-esented itself, and thus 
etpiipped with siuli a rabble to free the slaves of the South. 
lie lunl just twenty-two men, all told, when he opened 
tire, and in the skirmish that followed all the invaders who 
were not killed wei-e taken prisoners, and subsequently 
ti'ied foi' treason anil murder l)y the Virginia authorities, 
Bi'oun being sentenced to l>e hung on the 2d ami his com- 
[)anions on the Kith of December, 1859. The enterprise was 
a lio[>eless and rash one, but there was an honest purpose 
behind the undertaking that appealed to the dormant sense 
of the people of the nation, ci)nvincing them that while 
Brown was wrong in his methods he was right in jirinciple; 
hence, the first guns fired by him at Harriers Ferry were 
the opening guns of the Ci\il War that ensued, and which 
we all imw know accomplished just what Brown set out 
to accomplish, the freedom of the colored race. In one 
corner of the little office stands one of those pi'ln^itive 
tables, home made, and easily- constructed by taking two 
large bairel heads and separating them by a staff in the 
center, after which it is clothed with a curtain fi'oni one 




John Brown's Officr. 



Tnnounn nii; Afiirondacks. 43 

head to thr "tlicr, witli ;i lililMni licil miilway l>et\vi!en the 
top .-mil tlic li'iitciiii, wliicli aiTaiiyeiiiciit covei-s a iriiiltitii(h^ 
of iiiiiiiiess. On I his taMc is an uM ink staml and licsiilr 
tliat a rusty pfu an<l s|(icl<, willi wliicli (lir nM man wrote 
out tlic enlistment papers and his sonsand neis;"hl)t)i's signed 
their inuoeent lives awav. 

Many oilier pei-sonal curios of his are scattered about the 
little den. among w hirh is an old musket liavonet, said to 
have l)een used Ky the IJiownsat llaipersFerry. Fastened 
to its walls is a small cuphoard, two liy three feet in height, 
in which we weic told he kept his extensive lilirarv. It is 
now used I'oi- mercantile purposes, for ujiou its little shelves 
are stored small cakes of maple sugai-, ihe sale of which is 
one of the penpiisites of the said keeper, Reulieii Law- 
rence. Very little change has been maile in Ihe room since 
the old man left in \>>')\). I)ii-ectly in front of the study 
dooi', and liut a few feet iVoin it, stands a big gi'anite rock, 
somewhat resembling Phnioiiih liock in size and shape, 
upon tiie side (if wlTudi toward the house are engrax cd the 
letters "J. B.," John lirowirs own hamliwoik : and on its 
southern sloping top suifac<' someom^ has en*ira\"e(l the fol- 
lowing: '•John llrown, Dec. 2nd, 185!)," the date of his 
execution. Inclosing and closely surrounding the rock is 
an old slat fence, I'otten with age, leaning at all angles 
or standing in various degrees of toppling uncei'tainty, 
seemingly ready to fall at the slightest push. I'pon its 
westein, or house, side the fence incloses a few feet of 
ground upon which in [ilaces are clumps of wild rose- 



44 TiiKoi'cn TiiK AnmoN-nACKS. 

Inislies, aiul witliiii tliis iuclosure, uikUm' a grass-grown 
iiioiiiiil, " ,In]iii Brow ii's Ixuly lies iiiDuMcriiiL;' in tlie grave." 
At iIr' lu'ud ol' the grave staiidfs a thin slab i>f granite, 
three feet high by two feet wide, fashioned after the style 
of arrave markers of <nu' hundred years ago. It wmild 
seem that the Brown family must have been a little sliy df 
gravestone.s, I'oi' it W(iu]<l a^ipear that this uiie has done 
posthumous duty over the graves of the wliole race, foi' 
upon the up})ei' i'jout face of the stone is engi'aved in the 
([uaint letters of ye olden time the following: "In memory 
of Captain John I>ro\\n, who died at New York, Sept. Ye 
1), 1776, in the 4'Jnd year of his age." 

.\iid just l)elow this inscription appears: "John Brown, 
born May '.'th, 1800. Was executed at Charlestown, Va., 
Dec. 2, 1859." And still below, close down among the 
grass stubble, ui^on its face, the following; "Oliver Brown. 
Born May 9th, l8o9. Was killed at Harpers Fei'ry Oct. 
17tli, 1859." Ami on the back, or grave side, of the stone, 
is lettered the following legend: "In mem oiy of Frederick, 
son of John and Dianth Brown, born Dec. 31st, 1880, and 
mui'dered at Osawatomie, Kansas, Ang. ."lOtli, 1850, for his 
adheix'iice to the cause of fi-eedom." 

All the available surface on l)oth sides of the stone 
ha\ing been ntilized, still another of John Bi-own's sous 
(on account of lack of space) has no marker over his grave, 
that of Watson Brown, who was born October 7, 1835, 
and was wounded at Harpers Ferry, taken prisoiiei, and 
died October 19, 1859. After his death, on account of his 




a 
o 



o 

a 
a 

2 

K 
O 



Through the Adikondm ks. 45 

heiiiy ciiiisidfred a ci'imiiial, liis IhxIn- was yiveii to tlic iiitMli- 
oal follei^^e at Winchester, \'a., ainl was bj' tlieiii preserved 
as an anatomical specimen until the dose of tlie Civil Wnv. 
When the to\vii was captured \>\ the rni<in I'oices his 
wire-hinged bones fell into the hands of an Indiana arinv 
surgeon and were kept 1)V liiiu as a cniiosity until in bsSi', 
wlien they were brought to Xortli Elba for nidre decent 
interment. It was the verdict of the committee lliat tlie 
medical fratei-nity, on account of benefits tlie\ ma\ haxc 
reoei\ed after his death, owe it to this maityi' that he be 
now furnished with a suitable headstone. 

We are told by the old gate-keeper that it was the wish 
and recpiest of John Brown that this headsttme of his 
father l)e brought from Canton, Conn., ;tnd used as a gi-ave 
marker foi- the Brown family, at the foot of tlie "Big 
Rock." ^^ (' were also iid'oi'ined that it was the custom of 
that pious old man to daily km el and j)rav on the vei'v 
spot where his grave is now located, at tht^ base of the 
granite boulder, and ask Gotl for his guiding su])port and 
instruction in the hazardous undertaking upon which he 
was about to enter; that he spent man\ and man\' a whole 
night upon that ground in ])i'a\er, fervently asking (Jod 
for His consent to his plans, and after obtaining it, as he 
sup2)osed he did, he ceased making supplications at that 
altar, and proceeded with his scheme, fully pei-suaded tliat 
he was acting by and with the consent of the Great Father 
of us all. 

Jiist east and but a few feet from the "Big Rock," upon 
a natural granite boulder base, stands a beautiful monu- 



Alt Through the Adirondacks. 

iiit'ut, .si/e 4x4, iuid 10 feet high, weighing ul>i>ut twelve 
t(His, made of granite, with one side polished, iipun which 
are the following words and names: 

"John Brown Farm. 
" Donated to the People of the State of New York by 
Kate Field, LeGrand B. Cannon, Salem H. Wales, William 
TI. Lee, I). Rudolph Mai'tin, Jackson S. Shultz, Elliot C. 
Cowden, Sinclair Towsey, Anna Young Watson, Isaac H. 
Bailey, Heni'v Clews, Chas. Stewart Smith, Geo. Cabot 
Ward, Geo. A. Robins, Chas. C. Judsoii, Horace B. Claflin, 
Jojni E. Williams, Thomas ^luipliy. 

A. D. 1896." 

Tliis act was thoughtful and commendable, and a worthy 
ti-il)ute to that old man who was condemned and hung as a 
criminal, and yet to-day occupies a niche in the history of 
our nation; if not to be envied, he will be remembered as 
long as our Ihiion shall last. It has been said that the true 
monument of John Bro^vn is Mount Marcy, near the foot 
of which his grave is located, but, permitting the writer to 
be a judge, there can be no more fitting and appidpriate 
monument erected and dedicated to his memory, either by 
nature or l)y the hand of man, than that simple big granite 
rock, at the foot of which, by his own recpiest, he lies 
bui'ied ; where, upon its sides, he chiseled his own name, 
and where, at its base, he was wont to nightly kneel and 
hund)ly ask (rod for His divine guidance in his great and 
dangerous work of freedom for the black race. 




John Brown Monument. 



Thuoucii the AniitoNnArKS. 47 

Aftci' tlir (•(iMiiiiittec liad (■arcl'iill v iMs|i('ct(Ml all the his- 
torical sill Toiiiidiiigs, some elo((iiciit ami toiirliiim' remarks 
were luatU- \>y several of its niemljers, after wtiitli we 
left the i)l;ice soleiiiiiK c-liaiitiiiu' that ^leat Aiiieiicaii 
requiem, 

" Johu iirown's body lies inouldering in the grave, 
Rut liis soul goes marcliiug on." 

On our return to the Imtel we were treated to a ileli<;ht- 
fill drive anniiid ^firror Lake, witnessing on our tri|i a 
iiiiiiiue game of hall, fnr wliidi the Ste\'eiis lloiise iiall 
grounds are eelehrated, in which nine stalwart young men 
were defeatetl Ky a like iiiiiiil>er of ciiaruiing young ladies, 
guests at the hotel. 



4S Tiniounii iiiK AiuKiiNDACKs. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE STEVENS HOUSE. 

The Stevens House is located on an elevated strip of 
laml niidwav lietween Lake Placid and Mirror Lake. 'J"he 
\ iew obtained from tbe piazza of that house may l>e 
excelled in Switzerland, hut that question is debatable, to 
say the least. The hotel site is one of the most elevated 
in the Adirondacks, being two hundred feet above the 
neighboring country and two thousand and sixty-three feet 
above tide water; yet so much higlier are the mountain 
ranges that surround it that it has the appearance of Ijeing 
at the bottom of a lai'ge basin. Those who have visited the 
Rocky Mountains, and have looked off fr^)m their mighty 
peaks and noted the effect of magnificent distances there 
exemplified, will, I am sure, agree ^vith the -writer that 
while the effect may be grander on the Rockies, yet it is 
less satisfying than the view obtained from the steps of the 
Stevens House at Lake Placid. If the reader will take the 
trouble and expense tt) visit the place in midsummer, and 
upon the first fair day view" the surrounding country from 
the southeast corner of the Stevens House piazza, if he be 
a true lover of nature, he will not feel inclined to join issue 
with the writer in what he has said or may say in regard to 
the localit}'. 

Near at hand, in fact almost at your very feet, are U\o 
charmingly beautiful Lakes. On your right is Mirror Lake, 




-J 



TunOUGH THE AumOXOACKS. 49 

w itli its sliiiiintj surface uptiiriieil to the sky, ami oii your 
left Lake Placiil, sn hciiinicd in li\ Imlil hanks of siin'ouml- 
ing liills and iiioiiutaiiis ami liiiliicn IVum the winds that it 
rarely ever forfeits its peaeeful name. Let your eyes move 
slowly n\> towaids high Heaven, noting as you do so tlie 
effect of the dense foliage on the mountain sides, and 
hehold a score or more of tlie loftiest peaks of the Adiidn- 
dacks, includiuii' at least four of its lii<irhest mountains, 
to-wit, Mount Marcy, 5,344; Mount Mclntyre, 5,1 12 ; The 
Gothics, 4,905, and Old Whiteface, 4,871 feet above tide 
water. 

It has been said that the Adirondack wilderness is the 
"Garden of the Gods." If this ])e tine, then the chief 
gardener's headcpiarters should l)e located on the dividing 
l)lntf between Lake Placid and Mirinr Lake, Essex county, 
New York. 

We left the Stevens House at ten o'clock a. m., l)v teams 
over the old State i-oad, for Lower Saranac Lake, a distance 
of eleven miles. After soaring as high as seemed to be 
necessary in tlie Lake Placid region, it is something of a 
fall to come down to Mother Earth again, especiallv when 
you light on one of her most barren and man-forsaken 
countries. Such, howevei-, is the chai'acter of the country 
between there and Lower Saranac Lake. It has three 

redeeming features. The road is g 1, you occasionally 

catch a glimpse of a far-off mountain jjcak. and alxmt a 
mile before the lake is reached you pass through the 
thriving village of Saranac. Evidences of thrift and 



50 Through thk Adirondacks. 

prosperity are apparent through the little burg, and if not 
interfered with by setbacks it Avill l>e able to challenge the 
" City of Malone " for rivalry in the near future. 

"We ari'ived at the Hotel Algonquin, at the foot of the 
Lower Saranac, in time fiu' dinner, which the committee 
much enjoyed, because it was a good one ; very few hotels 
set a better table than tlie Algonquin. This hotel and its 
neai' neighbor, the Ampersand, are noted for their good 
cheer and their cool, breezy location. 

The afternoon was spent in inspecting the lake, ^v]lich 
was done in a small naphtha launch chartered for that pur- 
pose. It is prett}^ but not exti'avagantly so. Its rocky 
shores and bluff banks add to its j)icturesqueness, but not 
to its availability for camp sites. There are a few fine 
private camps at tlie lower end of the lake. The Ampei'- 
sand and Algonquin, two very fine hotels, are located at or 
near its foot, and are so situated on the lake that they 
receive its cooling l)reezes, which adds mucli to their 
comfort in summer. 



TllltOUCll THE AuiItONDACKS. 51 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM I.OWKR SARANAC LAKE TO PAUL. SMITH'S. 

Quite likely the I'liiiiiut oi" Bt'ii IIiii', whiili li.ul all the 
spring of its ii'im axle, was a iiioi'i' tiirsoiiic \cliiclc tn lidc 
in lor a Inim- distiiiu'e than tlu' oM -fasliiuncil ('nncoid 
tully-lio cojK-hes that are still in nse in s(>ine places toila\' ; 
l)ut if s(», Ben was entitled t() sympathy. Snch a cuacli 
was priixidfd fni- our (■<.inniittee fi'oni the Lower Saranae 
Lake to Paul Smiths. At limes its passengers were all 
jnml)led up togethei' like the jilayers of ;i footl>all team, 
and yet we enjoyed the ride, as our crowded condition 
enabled ns to be amused at each other's agon\. Snch old- 
time carriages are set np on tugdike sti'aps called thoiviULrh 
braces, which impart to the old tub a sort of a rocking 
motion when moving, but the trouble is there always 
seems to be something under the rockers w hich arrests the 
motion when about liaH'waA' o\ ei' and causes xonr b<id\- to 
pitch forward and then suddenly to Ije jei-ked ba(d< with 
such force as to threaten nnisculai' rheumatism ; then per- 
haps the next shock w ill be a side-tipping motion, which 
will be sure to make porous plasters necessary for both 
sides and back, and so on \ (Ui go " yankety yank" until 
every Ijoiie in xonr bod\^ is l)roken once and the loni; ones 
three times, and \\lien you are reduced to boneless jell}' 
you simply let yourself loose and say, " Let her go ; I can 



52 THiii>ii:ii iiii: A iMKdMiAcKs. 

stand it as long as yen can. " 'Jliat is the only way one 
can ever enjoy a I'ulc in such an <il<l ci'ate on wliecls. 

Befoi'e leaA-iny tlie vicinity of (lie lake, the coiiunittee 
visited tlie Adirondack Sanitarium. To the roKusi and 
liealth\', this |)hice is not quite so cliarining as it nuL^ht l)e, 
but wlien we stop to consider the great good it is doing for 
tlie ])oor suffei'ers from lung troubles, we are I'ompelled to 
say that it ought to be visited l)y more well persons, that 
they may know the good that is l)eing done here. The 
sanitarium, which consists of a complete set of the neces- 
sary buildings to cany on the work, is located al)out a mile 
from the lake, in a notch between two mountains, whose 
tliick tind)ered sides are covei-ed \\ ith spiuce, pine and 
balsam, thereby almost having an atmosphere of its own, 
as the suri'oundinu' hills serve to fence out foreiiin winds; 
hence, it reaps all the health-giving benefits wdiich are said 
to be carried in the od(U"s of the ]iine and balsam. 

This institution is but little kno\vn, and for this reason 
does not receive a just aj)preciatiou. The following is its 
bi'ief history : 

Some foui'teen oi' fifteen years ago Dr. Edward L. 
Tiudeau, while on a visit to that section for the benefit of 
his health, being himself afflicted with lung trouble, con- 
ceived the noble idea of building a sanitarium for the 
benefit of sufferers fi'om incipient jmlmonary complaints. 
Starting with no othei- capital than a good cause, it has 
steadily grown from au experiment to a certainty ; from a 
few patients to many, as its last report will show, to Avit ; 



Through thk Adiuondacks. 53 

Number of patients treated (luring year endintr 

Noveiiil>er 1, lisyz '-'17 

Diseliurged uppaivntly cured ..... 30 

With disease arrested ...... 32 

Unimproved or failed ...... 26 

Died 1 



Any poor person atlli(te(I with lung troul)le, living in 
the State, who has not reached the stage of hopeless incur- 
ability can be admitted there and boarded and treated for 
the I'emarkably low }>i'ice of $5 per week, providing there 
is a vacancy, f<n- \\e were infonneil (hat the institution was 
being run at its full capacity at the [)resent time. Our 
committee spent ;ui hoiu- of deep interest looking over this 
hospital, and came away fully convinced that a little State 
aid would not be out of place in the way of encourage- 
ment to its promoters. 

Our route to-day is along and over the old Noi'thwest 
Bay road, which was cut and worked through the dense 
wilderness some 100 years ago to facilitate military opera- 
tions of that date, and later it w as called the Fifty-mile 
AVoods road, over which nearly all of the early settlers of 
western northern New Voi'k ti'amped on foot or drove 
theii' ox teams fi'om Vei'inont to their future homes then in 
the wilderness on the northern i)oi'dei' of this State. The 
flat lands along this i-oute look as if they had been cleared 
about the time oui' X'ermont forefathers concluded to go 
west and grow up with the country. The land is light 



54 Through the Adirondacks. 

and poor along tlxe routf, and (l()ul)tle.ss the reason for its 
early settlemejit was due to tlie fact that the avei-age Ver- 
mont fanner, liavingr been boi'n on a mountain side, and 
tliereby obliged to travel ujiliill all his life, concluded to 
stick his stake on the first level piece of land he found and 
live there, sand or no sand. 

A¥e traveled noithwest until we I'eached Paul Smith's 
station, on the Webb road, and then south about five miles 
to St. Regis Lake, or Paul Smith's Hotel, whei'e we said 
good-bye to our tally-ho, as we had no further use for it on 
our trip. Perhaps more credit is due Paul Smith for pro- 
moting the summer hotel business in the Adirondacks than 
to any other man. A Ijrief histi>rv of his hotel life is as 
follows : 

Some time in "the latter part of the lifties Paul kept a 
sort of ten-carat hotel on the northern bank of Loon Lake, 
near the site of the pi'esent Loon Lake House. Not being 
closely crowded with business during his Loon Lake ven- 
ture, Paul himself acted as guide to parties who drifted his 
way. Among the several sportsmen who found their way 
to Paul's alleged hotel at Loon Lake was a gentleman from 
New York, a true lover of the woods and a man of wealth. 
The St. Regis Lake section at that time was one of the 
very best for hunting and fishing purposes. For this 
reason Paul, as guide, and his New York frien(l visited 
that locality each summer for several seasons on a sporting 
trip, their camping grounds being on the very spot where 
the widely famous Paul Smith's Hotel now stands. On 




o 



'I'llltnlJClI TlIK AlilltiiNDACKS. 55 

one of these Imntiiig trips, it is said, niic iiii;lit when asleep 
in his bough camp, this gentleman dieameJ the hotel's 
famous future, with Paul as its uianagiug or jwesiding 
genius, ainl |ii(inii)tlv obeyinu' the iiiu' susffested in his 
dream, lie immediately purchased a large section of land in 
that vieinii\ , and in the year 1861 Paul left his Loon Lake 
House (wiiich has since become a noted summer resort) 
and moved into a small house erected by his New York 
friend im (lie very site where stood the bougii shack of his 
Aladdin Palace dream. The venture was a success from 
the very start, and continued to l)e so, until to-dav it is 
one of the most noted hostelries iii the United States. 
Its success has not Ijeen due to the superior scenery sur- 
rounding it, foi' in that I'espect it does not e([ual the old 
location on Loon Lake, nor does its continued success grow 
out of the fact that the locality was once a first-class hunt- 
ing and tishing section, for that has long ]>een a thing of 
the past, but because its propnetor is an all-around every- 
<lay good fellow; hence, wlnle [)ei'haps not the original 
[iromoter, Paul Smith is easily the most successful hotel 
originator in the Adinmdacks. 

xYdditions have been made to the orio;iual structure, until 
to-day a mammoth hotel, capal)le of accommodating four 
or five hundred guests, now stands at the foot of the little 
lake called St. Regis. Mr. Smith has added to the first 
[pui'chase of land until he can truly say, 

" I am monarch of all I survey, 
My rights there are none to dispute," 



5G Through the Adikd.ndacks. 

wliich is true in every respect, for evertliing from a five- 
dollur-a-day room at his hotel to a five-cent plug of navy 
tobacco obtained there carries with it a I'ake-off for Paul 
Smith. Even his guides ])ay ti'ibute to him for the privi- 
lege of guiding, and last, but not least, his guests cheerfully 
jia) him seventy-five cents for an hour's torture on a tally- 
ho coach from the railroad station to his house ; but, for all 
this, which would not be tolerated in the clearing, Paul is 
always full (no (loul)le meaning intended), and always will 
be, because he knows how to keep a hotel. 

After being shown about the hotel by Paul himself, 
who is now a hale, heart}' old man of seventy -two, as full 
of fun as when a boy, and enjoying an excellent dinner, 
our committee embarked in seven small boats manned by a 
similar number of i-obust guitles for a trip through the 
several lakes and ponds to the Upper Saranac Lake. 

Lower St. Regis Lake, the most of whirh can be seen 
from the piazzas of the hotel, is an ordinary wc^ods pond, 
wath no especial scenic lieauty to I'econnuend it beyond 
innumerable other lakes of like character to be found in 
the Adirondack forest. The same may be said of Spitfire 
Pond, but the LIpper Lake has a little more artificial beauty 
on account of the many elegant piivate camps located on its 
shores. The three lakes are practically one, being all joined 
together by the St. Regis River, to an enlargement of -svhich 
the lakes owe their origin. ^Xe rowed away from Smith's 
Landing at 2 o'clock p. m., and glided through the three 
connecting lakes slowdy, noting the many jiretty camps as 



Through the Adiro.nuacks. 57 

we [Kissed along, fsju'cially ilu)st' mx llie Upi'.er St. Regis 
Lake, among \vliifh ai'e those of Wliitelaw Keid, .Mr. 
'I'uoiiildey and others. At tlie head of one <if the most 
soutlieni [>oiiits of the I'ppei- Lake tlie committee met witli 
their tifst ti'i>ul>le in the sliajic of a caiTv, for up to this 
time oiif messengei' iiad looked after l)agLjage, Imt ovei- the 
eari-ies each one is expected to look after and caiT\' his o\\ n. 
Tlie fii'st cai'fv was slioit, o\er a liogliack of aliont six i-ods, 
into Bog Pond. Passing thi'ough thismuddx little puddle, 
of about sixty rods in length, we encountered another cai'i\' 
of about ten rods, to Bear Poml, a ince clear body of water 
about one-half mile in width ; then over a carry of about 
fifty rods, to Long Pond, which is one mile long. Here the 
carries began to stretch out some, for the next one is at 
least one-half of a mile long, landing us at Little Green I'oml, 
which is al)oiit eighty rods wide; then a lliirtv rods carr}', 
and we reached St. Regis I'ond, wlTuh is of considerable 
size, being one and one-half miles long. This pond is the 
liead waters of the middle Ijrancli of the St. Regis River, 
which forms a junction witii the St. Regis Lake branch 
near McDonald Pond, in towiishij) IR, in Franklin countv. 
Townshi]) 20, in which this lake or pond is hx-ated, now be- 
longs to the State. Numerous ficsh signs of beaverson the 
shore of this pond were to be seen, and so recently made as 
to prove that a laig'e family of those singular animals have 
pieempted this lake as their champing grounds. 

'i'his towns]ii[», \ve were told, was tendered li\- the State 
to Cornell University foi' the purpose of experimental tim- 



58 TiirtotiGn the Adirondacks. 

l)(^r culture <»n (lie (u'riuuii plan, l»ut was decliiit'd on ac- 
count of its total (ItMiudaticin of lumhei', whicli is true, as 
it has been almost entirely stripped of its sizalde tiinl)er. 

After passing through St. Regis Pond we encountered 
our most fornudable carry of about one mile in length, into 
Little Clear I'ond. The carry being at the time a little wet, 
it was well calculated to try men's "soles," and our ten- 
derfooted friends from the city, before we Avere over it, 
fiilh appreciated what it meant to foot it through the 
w o( .(Is. Little Clear Pond or Lake is about three miles long, 
and is indisputably one of the purest and clearest bodies of 
water of its size on this continent. So transparent are its 
waters, it is said, that, when fishing, a bait can be seen sixty 
feet below its surface. Winds and storms sometimes dis- 
color its waters, but when at its best one seems to be float- 
ins in mid-air as his boat <>;lides over its smooth surface. 
On the outlet of this lake, and between it and Upper 
Saranac Lake, is located the State's Fish Hatchery, used 
solely foi' the hatching and breeding of various kinds of 
ti'out. The location seems to be especially well adapted 
for that purpose. The committee made a careful inspec- 
tion of the plant. The only building of any consequence 
on the grounds, aside from the superintendent's dwelling, 
is the hatching house — a large barn-like structure, where 
trout spawn or eggs are placed in flumes or trays partly 
I'll led with sand and gravel, over which the eggs are spread, 
then water at a given temperature is allowed to slowly flow 
over them until they are hatched, after which the so-called 
fry or small young fish are placed in the breeding pens. 




H 

■< 

a 



a 
■< 

B 
O 

a 



TllROUOH THE Adiiconuacks. 59 

Dirt'ctly I'U the liaiik nf the oiith^t of the hike, :iu<l some 
rods jibove tlie liatchiiig house, stiiiids a sijiiare tank made 
of |iiii(' phiiik, Il'xIl'xS feet hiudi, which is caUed a tt'm|iei'- 
iiiLi' tank. It is plain in its (•onstrn<'(ion, Init novel in its 
results. It is tilled with water from the lake, wliirli i.s 
Wrought in iron |ii|iessi.\ inches in diameter, twosurli jiipes 
being u.sed, one taking the water from the siiiface and the 
other at a point si.vty feet below . It has been found that 
the watei' at tliat depth is vei'y cold, even in tiie liottest 
weather of the sununiM- reaching the remarkaliK low teni- 
jierature of 40° F., wliile that fVoni the surface marks al)out 
(\t)° or (if)" F. One pipe entei's at the top and the otliei- at 
the bottom of the taidc. It will icadih lie seen tliat tlie 
result of such mixing will produce water at a temperature 
of from no" to 55° F., just wliatis neeih'd for tlie success- 
ful tish breediuc; in tlie sunnner oi- hot months of the year. 
We were informed tliat the mi.xiug of the waters was a new 
ex[ierinient and had been in use only for a short time, but 
that it was woiking very satisfactorily. Just below the 
tempering tank, on the liank of the outlet brook, are ar- 
ranged eight tlumes or liins, side by side, covered with trap- 
doors that may be lifted w hen the fish are fed. Tliev are 
each about twenty feet long, three feet deep and four feet 
w ide, their bottoms are covered with gravel and sand, and 
about one foot of water is allowt'd to tlow through them 
slowly and steadily, lieing supplied by duets or s])Outs 
from the tempering tank above. We were told lliat the 
pens contained when we were there al)out (i5,000 of brook 



00 Tnnrncii ihe Adirondacks. 

and so-ealled cuttliniat tioiit five months old. Tlie super- 
intendent infninicil us that they were about ready to be 
assorted and niov^d down one notch into Larger pens or 
flumes h:)cated just beh>\v, into and through which the water 
from tlie opening flumes flows, thereby using the same 
water for the whole family. 

After the small fisli ha\e been taught to eat and care for 
themselves, larger pens or flumes are used for their future 
breeding; hence, the eight flumes outlet into one twenty 
feet long, eight feet wide and three feet deep, with gravel 
and water as before described, l)ut left open at the top. 
There were several of these pens, one below the other, each 
one of which contained trout of different ages and sizes, 
the lo\\er one holding fish that would tip the beam at three 
and one-half pounds. The fish are fed on beef liver ground 
up in a sausage machine. 

If nature is closely studied, it will be found that she 
furnishes many curious problems, and one of the most singu- 
Lar is exemplified in the propagation of fish. The incubat- 
ing pen in which the eggs of the fowl are hatched nuist be 
kept at a uniform heat, l)ut, on the contrary, the hatching 
pen of the fish must l)e kept ruiiformly cold. Thus it will 
be seen how contraiy nature seems to Ije in the modus 
operandi of her acts of creation. A closer study, however, 
will deal' up the matter, when it is found that ])oth 
methods are heat, vaiying oidy in degree and foi'm. 

The committee were much interested in the hatchery, 
and exceptionally well pleased with its location, but 



TlIROUCMI TIIK AuiKONDAt'KS. 61 

were of one iniiKl tliat iiiiicli licttci- iiiid iiiorc extensive 
results onglit to lie olitainrd I'loiii llir lilMTal a|i|Mip|ii'iiitions 
annually nnule liy the State. 

'I'eains auaiii ci'iixcNfil the rdnnnittee [<> Saranar Inn, 
three miles west, wliere the night was spent rather nnsatis- 
factorilv, on accdunt of the crow lied conditinn of (lie inn. 



C2 Through thk Auikondacks. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

AT SARANAC INN. 

Siiranac Inn is lot-ated on a fine, level tract of laml, 
several acres of wliicli are cleared and well ke])t, showing 
considerable skill in the \vay of 11 oral culture, directly on 
the north liank of the Upper Saranac Lake, near the inlet 
of Fish Creek. The house has become s(jniewhat noted 
from the fact that Grover Cleveland spent some time there 
when he was President of the United States. 

AVilliam Brookfield of New York was seen among its 
guests, \\ho offered suggestions and gave the committee 
some valuable information. 

We left the inn at ."..HO p. m. by steamer, with ( 'a[)t. 
John Clark of Albany at the helm. A ti'ip around the lake 
is one much to lit' enjoyed, for its shores ai'e thickly orna- 
mented and beautified by numerous private camps, at the 
di.cks of which the steamer stops on signal, and some of 
which are expensive and novel e.xamples of rustic architec- 
tuiv. One of these is the camp or cottage of that "grand 
old man " and much esteemed friend, ex-Governor Levi P. 
Morton. At the re([uest of the committee, Captain Clai'k 
kindly consented to stop at the ex-Governor's dock to allow 
lis to pay our respects to him. Most of the committee were 
personally acquainted, having served in the Legislature 
when the old gentleman \vas in the Governor's chair. We 
found him hale and hearty and still manifesting a deep 









mm in 



TnrtouoH tuk ADirtoNHArKS. 03 

interest in State matters, congratulating Ives on his success 
in preserving the gaine in the lui-csts and asking Trainoi' 
how he was getting along with liis State splitting l»ill. We 
enjoyed the intei'view very iiiucli. .lust as we were ahoul 
to leave, our time being limiicil, the old gentleman said if 
we would stay a little longer lie would Krew us .-i how 1 of 
the same cordial thai he used to give us when we attemled 
his receptions in AUiauy, luit remembering theeifect of that 
red decoction, we respectfully declined, with thanks. 

We continued our ti'ip, viewing as we went pi-ivate 
camps and |iul)lie sinniuei' resorts as miieh as was |iossilile 
from the deck of oiii' steamer, finally stopping at Rustic 
Lodge Hotel, which is located at the lake end of the old 
Indian ("ai-ry, wliere we again took teams for Stony Creek 
Ponil, upon the bank of which is situated Hotel Hiawatha, 
where we were scheduled to rest over Sunday. 

Many years before the advent of the white man a tribe 
of Huron Indians hunted, fished and trapped in this 
vicinity, and, being natural woodsmen, thev left no marked 
lines on the timi)er for the white man to tbiluw ; but not so 
on the land, for their old trails between lakes and rivers 
are still plainly traceable, au<l some of them show evidence 
of having been long and considerably used. Such a one is 
the old Indian Carry, between the Upper S.aranac Lake and 
Racrpiette Kiver, a distance of three miles, which is to-day 
a good wagon load leading from the old Corey place, on 
the Saranac, to the Racquette River. This cany can be 
shortened some, however, if the old Indian example is 



(U THKOlKill ■iUK AuiUOiNDACKS. 

followed, wliirli is l)y putting your boat in at Stony Creek 
Pond, lijill'wav over, u|Min wliicli and its outlet one can 
float directly into the llacquette. 

IT])oii aniving at Rustic Lodge, or old Core/ place, or, 
still oldei', Indian Cari'v, the members of the committee 
concluded to \\ alk, as the road was said to l)e good and the 
hotel less than two miles awa\ . Almost as soon as one 
sets foot on shore on the old Indian Carry (dou]>tless due 
to its name) Indians are suggested. In imagination one 
"sees him in the clouds or hears him in the wind," and as 
you pass over the old trail ancient moccasin tracks can be 
almost traced in the sandy way. Every tree and l)ush by 
the I'oadside suggest ;in and^ush, and finally when you reach 
the Hotel Hiawatha, ^\•hich bears an Indian name, it resem- 
bles a huge wigwam, and as you go about it thei'e seems to 
be the odor of an Indian camping ground. And in my 
case, aboriginal imaginations were not to end even there, 
for after I had gone to bed that night, with ray mind filled 
with red Indians, and had finally succeeded in getting to 
sleep, I was suddenly awakened by a blood-curdling Indian 
war-whoop that caused every individual hair on my head to 
stand ready for the scalping knife. I was unnecessarily 
alarmed, however, as it proved to be nothing more danger- 
ous than Paddy Trainor snoring in the next room. That 
distinguished gentleman is a Tammany lirave, Avho is noted 
for his close imitation of Indian wai'-whoops when he is 
asleep. 




Hon. Patrick Trainor. 



'riiKcir(;ii iHi; AhiiiciM>A<KS. 65 

CHAPTER IX. 

EARLY SK rn.RRS AROUT SARANAC AND TUPPKR LAKES. 

Sdim'tinic ill ilic early fditit's, t'(j|' snine unaccountable 
I'casuii. tlitTr iii(i\c(l into llir tlii'ii miliMikfii w iMcnicss in 
tilt* \icinil\ (if Saraiiai- and 'l"u|i]ii'i' Lakes a score or nioi'e 
of sti'oiiu'. stalwart ami roliust men IVoni the \ ai-ious jiai'ts 
of the New England States; men who, it' theif li\c> and 
energies lia<l not l)een shaded ]>\ tlie forest trees uniler 
whose shadows tlii'\ electe<l to live, wonld have made a 
lecoid \\(>itli\ to have Ix^en written in the liistoi-\ of the 
State. Manx of them wei-e well ••diic;ited. Sneh men as 
the Martins, of the Lower Sai'anae ; Bartlett, Corey and 
Calkins, of the Upper Saranae Lake: the Stetsons, 
McLaughlins and Moodys, of Tu]iper Lake; .lohn Farry 
and Seavy, of the Raecpiette River section, and otliers 
whose names I cannot recall. 

Among those w ho settled on the Upper Saranae, or near 
thei'e, were Bartlett, Corey and Calkins, the latter on the 
Racijuette River <'nd of the old Indi.in Caiiy and Corey on 
the Lake, while IJartlett livctl on the carry l)etween the 
Li^p[)ei' Saranae and Ronnd Lake. These men w ei'e good- 
natured enough to others, liut were ever reatly to fight each 
other at tiie drop of the liat, and tnany were the fisticuff 
battles and b.ick-hug wrestles those old giants indulged in, 
with no otiiei- .audience than the wihl animals of the foi'est. 
It is said that Calkins, lieing the largest, and for this reason 
5 



GO Thuough the Adirondacks. 

tlie strongest, usually wore off tlie helt, he heing six feet 
four inches in his stocking feet ; l)iit forgenuine contrariness 
among the whole gang, it is reported Verge Bartlett " took 
the cake." It is said he used to have spells of hating him- 
self, and when in his fits of blues was somewhat given to 
profanity, and when he got right down to business the 
swear words left out of his vocabulary were not worth a 
moment's consideration; yet nearly all who visited that 
section were sure to stop at his house, where they were 
certain of getting a good meal and of being amused at liis 
pugnacious disposition. 

Most of these old pioneers have gone to another limiting 
ground, and those who remain are near the further end of 
the trail. Should any of them who are still resting on tlie 
carry chance to read these remai'ks, I sincerely trust they 
will not consider them disrespectful, because they are nf)t 
so intended. In so far as I know, this is the first time 
tliat pul)ru' attention has ever been called to their history. 
I am glad to be the first one to give to them the credit for 
blazing the lines and cutting out tlie trails over which the 
pleasure and health seeker and, in fact, the money-gatherers 
of to-day have found their way. 

Nearly all of this day was given u^) to the inspectioii and 
investigation of Towiishiji 2i\, in Franklin county, which 
has been, we wei-e informed, purchased by the State and 
transferred to Cornell University for the purpose of experi- 
mental timl)er cultivation and preservation on the German 
plan. We became veiy well satisfied that there is not to 



Throit.h TiiF. Anirtr.snArKS. 67 

be found a better touiisliip in the Adiiomlafk forest than 
tliis one f.ir tliat |iur|)Ose, because it has s(i main natural 
advantages not possessed l>y other ti'acts of similar size. 
Tlie lvac(|uett<' Ui\er divides it in tlie <'enle|-, and its trilm- 
tary stieams in tliat township are Ampersand I'.rook. Cold 
Rivei' and Stony C'l'eek on the north, l''ollen-l.\ Toiid and its 
outlet on the south, all at ri^'iit angles with and empt\inL:' 
into the same, (low n wliicii foi' ai>out t\\cnl\ miles lo^s can 
be tloated, in a very short tinu' and at but slioht expense, 
to the yieat hnuber mills at Tupjier Lake, where tlie\ can 
be made into marketal)le stock and ad\ .antageoush shipjied 
by railroad to the lund)er mai'ts of the State. It is true 
that a consideral)le portion of the township has l)een lum- 
bered ; tliat is to say, in the immecjiate \iciiiit\ of the water- 
ways, but there is still a laip' jiart of the tract that has 
ne\ er been denuded, from which inniiediate results ma\ be 
ol)tained in the way of timber-culture ex]>erimeiits. But 
the ipiestion now presents itself, Is it wise for the State to 
[nirchase and deed the same to a <dose ccupoiatioii, to coii- 
tnd as tliey may elect, to ha\c and to hold, not only all the 
land. Itut all the credit, for the results that are sure to 
follow in the way of timber cultivation and forest preserva- 
tion, to sav iiothiliii of the rexciiue that is also sure to 
result, for the undertakim;' is no lonii'er an experiment '. 
There cannot be a (piestion but that in the near future 
large an.l profitable returns can l>e (uiiied into the State 
treasury, if the industiv is propeily managed. (Jermany, 
where the idea first orimnated, does not farm out such 



C8 TiiKotnn the Adiroxdacks. 

educational and profital)lt' industries, but develops and 
profits by them, and this is one reason why her name has 
been heralded abroad as the greatest educational nation of 
the wiirld. 

The. State is confronted with the fi)llovving conditions : 
There are a large number of taxpayers who have not the 
time and ])erhaps cannot afford the expense to attach 
tliemselves to a private clul), thereby securing camping and 
sporting rights in the forest, and they complain because 
laws have been passed permitting private ownershi]) of 
lands in the forest for such purposes. Just how much they 
have been deprived of their actual rights and jirixileges by 
such ownej'ship is open to debate, because one of the 
inalienable rights of man is that he may do what he will 
witli liis own. But this case is entirely different. Here 
they have a just right to complain, because they are asked 
to help 2>ay the fiddlei' without being invited to join in the 
dance; in other ^vords, "taxation -ndthoiit representation;" 
hence, for the State to secure this valuable franchise and 
turn it over to any close corporation, \vlio w ill promptly set 
11]) tlic claim that in (irder that they may preserve the tim- 
bei' ])i'operly on tlie tract no camping, fishing or hunting 
will be allowed, thereby cutting out of the forest preserve 
one of the very best townships for sporting purposes that 
can be found Mdthin its boundaries, and dedicating it 
wholly and solely to the advancement, pleasure and profit 
of any private institution not controlled by the State, woidd 
receive and would have a right to receive serious condem- 
nation from its electors and taxpayers. 



Throuuh the Akirondacks. 69 



CHAPTER X. 

STORY OF THE MAD INDIAN SPIRIT. 

In the vicinity of tlie Uppei' Samnac Lake the Indians 
used to say there once lived an Indian s|iii-it nf colossal 
statui'e; in fact, he was a juinl>o of iiis kind. He was 
much given to leajiin;.;-, and one half mile was jnst an everv- 
day sort of a ,jnni]> for him ; l>ut the tronlile ai'ose in land- 
ing, as he was apt to sink into the t:i-onn<l disagreeahly 
when lie struck after sncli a ,jum]i. \\ hen he Hi'st learned 
that the white num had an-ived on the lake it so enraged 
him that he made a jump of a mile and a half from the 
Corey place on the Saranac to R()und oi' Little Stony 
Creek Pond. To prove this story, the inhabitants of that 
locality will point out to you the imprint of his poiidei-ous 
moccasiu tracks where he lamled on the shore of that [K)ud. 
After this effort he never looketl npoii the linqiid waters 
of the Saranac again. Doubtless the jump was too nnndi 
for him. At any rate, that was the last one he was ever 
known to make. 

STORY OF THE CARDINAL FLOWER. 
In passing up or down the rivers of the Adirondacks in 
the summer time one will be sure to notice a deeji red 
flower growing on its banks attached to a stem of a weed 
of the golden-rod family. Tiie flower is exceedingly 
pretty, and its color resembles drops of blood. The Indian 
legend of its origin is as follows : 



70 THUOTKiH THK AdIRONDACKS. 

White deer were c-oiisidered sacred by those old tril>es, 
and were seldiun killed if seen, Imt slionld any <if their 
nnndier l)e sn unt'i>rtunate as to slay one, his own death 
was sure to Follow within a yeai'. Once u[)oii a time one 
of tlu^ir young l)raves aceideutally killed one, and when 
carrying it to his canoe a few drops of its lilood fell n|ion 
the ground, and upon that spot the first cai'dinal flower 
spi'ang up; hence its origin. 

STORY OF THE WHITE POND LILY. 
The origin of fliis beautiful and highly odorous flower, 
which is found in laige nundjers in the lakes and streams 
of the Adirondack Preserve, is said by the Indians to lie 
a young brave's too ai'duous affection for a yoimg Imlian 
maiden. When the young buck approached her she fled 
and he pursued u]i along the Racquette River bank until 
finally, upon aniving at a high precipice overhanging the 
stream, she paused, but only for a moment, and then made 
a fatal leap into the waters below, preferring death to dis- 
honor, and directly there s]irung up on the spot, that beau- 
tiful white and yellow Uowei- called the white pond lily, 
its \vhite petals representing her purity and the yellow 
center her moment of temptation to yield to her lovei" in 
the pause Just before the leap. 

STORY OF THE IRISH NOBLEMAN. 
J ust below Big Tupper Lake on the Racquette River is 
a stretch of still watei' some U\o miles long, terminating at 



Through the Auhjunhacks. 71 

tlie outlet of Racqiiette Pond, ii|>'iii the l);iiik <>f uliicli is 
situated the present vilhijie nf 'ru|ip<'i- Lake. This piece 
of still water is kunwn li\ twn names, lieinu' calleil liy 
some the liothi'op Stretch aii'l 1>\ uthers miscaUefl liMiiu; 
Neck, the lattei' UeiiiL;' an ii:ih>iant iiiisnuinei' I'm' Loimii 
Neui^h, the name nf n licautil'ul Inkr in li'eland. < >n 
account III' how this name reached the ii|i|iei- watei's of the 
Raeqtiette l)riiiy-s tn li^lit a stni-y of eonsidei'alih' interest. 
To ivacli it, however, it will lie necessary to drag in a little 
of the ancient history of C'oiuity Antiim, Pi'ovince of 
Ulster, of the Emerald Isle. The legend of Lough Neugh 
runs as follow s : 

In the reign of King Lughaidh Riabhdeargh, a well 
wJiich had been blessed liy <ine of the early saints e.\isted 
in the valle}' uow^ occupied by the waters of Lough Neugh. 
This well possessed extraordinary healing powers. One of 
the conditions for the steady Hiav and good liehavior of 
that health-giving well was that the iron door of its weU- 
hoiise nuist lie carefully closed when a visitor departed, 
else the well w ould overflow and destroy the city. Among 
those who tried the holy waters of the well was a lady 
w^ho, overjoyed because of the benefits she had received, 
rushed off, forgetting to close the door. The angry waters 
burst forth in a flood, drowned tlie hidy, covered the town 
of Eacha, that being the name of the town <ir city built in 
that valley, and filled the whole valley, forming the lake 
as it now exists. 

Of course the reader has the right to discount this yarn 
to the extent of rejecting the whole of it if he chooses, and 



72 TuKofcni THE Aiuno.viJACKS. 

tlie writer claims tlif' same rii;-lit. It would seem, however,, 
that ]\[(){)re, IrehuKTs national poet, credited enough of it 
to wi'ite the follow ini;- well-known and beautiful stanza in 
regard to its histoiy : 

" On Lough Neugli's banks as the fisherman strajs, 
When the calm clear eve's declining, 
He sees the ronnci towei's of other days 
In tlie waves beneath him shining." 

Strange as it may seem, there are many <:und ]ieo])le living 
to-day w lio fully credit the existence of the city as much as 
they believe in their own existence. Be that as it may, 
let us i-eturn to our story. 

Many years ago there lived on the l)aiilvs of Lough 
Neugh in Ireland a nobleman, oi- rather two of tliem, who 
(juaiTeled over a fair lady. Said (|iiaiie] lesulted, as they 
usually did in those days, in a duel, in which one of the 
principals was left on the tield foi' dead. Before fully 
ascertaining the extent of his opponent's injuries, the sur- 
viving and uninjured principal of the rencounter fled to 
America, and on arriving at Montreal, he proceeded up the 
St. Lawrence River to St. Regis, where he found Captain 
I'eter Sabattis, who was then chief of the tribe, and 
engaged hiding from him, supposing all the time that he 
had killed his opponent. Captain Peter took pity on him, 
and after ])rocui'iug a liberal outHt, as the gentleman 
seemed to have plenty of money, carried him and his 
effects up the Racquette River to his old hunting ground. 



'I'liKdicii iiiK Ai>ii;i)M>a<:ks. 73 

;iii(l tlifif liiiilt liiiii a siiuli', \\ariii li)<^li(>iise on the srmtli- 
cin liaiik of Ra('(HU'tte Pond, nt-ai- tlic point wlierc the 
river ami poml unite. Traee.s of his old house can doul)t- 
less he still found at that locality. The gentleman eleared 
a small piece of land and raised a few potatoes. l>ut lived 
maiidy on <;aine and trout, which were then abundant in 
that part. He lived there for many years, until linallv his 
friends le.-irned in some way of his whereabout.s and sent 
foi- him, as it seeine(l lu- had been laboring under an illu- 
sion, in that he did not kill his opponent in the duel, lie 
returned to his people, without even leaving his name for 
the l)enetit of future srenerations. The onlv thin<r he did 
do by whicli he may be remembered was to name the 
Rac(piette [lond Lough Neugh, upon which his camp was 
located, and which has been confounded, garbled and mis- 
placed on a ]>iece of still water just aiiove his camp which 
is now called Long Neck. 



74 TllROUOH 'inE AlJlROXDAGKS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

AT AXTON, ON THE RACQUETTE RIVER. 

Leaving Hotel Hiawatha at 8.80 a. m., we proceeded to 
Axtou, (>u tlie Racquette River, and there embarked in 
small rowboats with gnides for a most delightful trip up 
that stream to Long Lake. Racquette River is the second 
largest whose head watei's are in the State. It is fully 
two hundred miles long, and its primal head is a spring 
situate on the west side of a range of hills which form the 
dam between the Hudson and the Racquette watershed. 
The watei- from this sjiring makes a considerable brook, 
that I'uns for some distance parallel with and only a])out 
one-half mile from and in an opposite direction to a similar 
stream which forms one of the tributaries of the Hudson 
River, the Racquette stream running north and the Hudson 
i-unning south. The Racquette tributary, however, finally 
finds its wa}' into Blue Mountain Lake, which is consid- 
ered to be the nominal head of the Racquette River, as that 
lake is the first body of w.iter of any considerable size in 
its system. The course of the Racquette River from that 
lake is mainly northwest, and empties into the St. Law- 
rence at St. Regis Indian Reservation, St. Lawrence 
county, N. Y. 

Eagle, Utowana, Racquette, Forked and Long Lakes, 
whose beds are undoubtedly simply enlargements of the 
stream, are natui'al reservoirs or basins formed partly by 



THROUfiH TIIIO AimtOMiArKS. 75 

Upheavals aiul pailly l>y ire during tlu- glacial r[inch. 
Tlic liver is one of the best-l)ehavefl streams <»m tlie eon- 
tiueiit, rarely ever ovei-flow ing its l)aiiks i.i- tinodiug .ind 
destroying property iu its course. In smur places it is 
very wide, ii()tal)ly at Potsdam, where it is uearh one mile 
across, while iu others its w atei-s are gathei-ed togethei', 
shooting through canyons of hut a few feet in width. It 
falls, from its source to its mouth, a I )out t went \ live huudreil 
feet. The scenery along its course, including its sevei'al 
waterfalls, exceeds, for that kind of lieauty, any other 
i-ivei- in the State. This statement can he verified by a 
visit to any or all of the following named watei'falls — 
Buttermilk, Piercefield, Moody, Jamestown, Stark, Rain- 
bow and Colton, which are located at intei'vals along its 
course betAveen Forked Lake and I'otsdam. But for 
(piiet, modest, mellow scenery, the stretch between Stony 
Creek mouth to the carry around Kacquette Falls ra[iids 
takes the first premium, poilions of which are enchant- 
ingiy beautiful. For long distances the boat passes ovei- 
shallows, whose sandy bottoms resemble pure gold, nn[)art- 
ing to the water an amberdike shade, but as the water 
deepens its color changes to i-ed, and still deeper, to black. 
Nearly all this le\el of the rivei- has interval banks covered 
with soft maple and elm trees, whose branches in some 
places nearly span the stream, thereby well nigh shutting 
out the noonday sun. 

About 12 ni. we arrived at Racquette Falls rapids, 
around which is a cairy of one and one-fourth miles, c)ur 



76 TiiitoiniT THE Adiuondacks. 

l)<);its beiug drawn over by teams. We were met. at tlie 
landing by a farmerdike, good-natured, big-bodied man by 
the name of Martin Talbert, who sought an opportunity to 
rehite several stereotyped yarns in such a manner as to 
convince us that he did not l)elieve them himself. We 
\vere informed that he was comparatively a new comer 
tliere, and not having shed all the hayseed tVoin his hair, 
his stories wei'e less interesting than they otherwise w(nild 
luive been had he been to the manner born. He served us 
with an excellent farm dinner, however, in the menu of 
which ^yer(i brook ti'out, but u])on close inspection it was 
found that the trout wei-e Racquette River pickerel, caught 
l)y the committee on their way up. It would seem that 
this has long been a noted place to stop for meals, and was 
called before the advent of the present Munchausen the 
"Mother Johnson Place," that landlady having received 
tlie highest commendation frt)in Adirondack Murray for her 
famous russet pancakes and golden maple syrup. 

About one-half mile up the river from the Talbert House 
are located Racquette Falls, which have no very striking 
attraction except to the student of geology, for the twisted, 
warped and cracked appearance of the ledge just below the 
falls suffffests volcanic action much more than at auv other 
place I have ever noticed in the Adirondacks. The rocks 
there are metamorphic and of a schistous shaly character, 
showing evidence of some remote convulsive shock. 

At the head of the carry we again take boats for the new 
Sagamore Hotel, on Long Lake, a continuous row of twenty- 








■^' 




THROriiH THK AniRONDACKS. 77 

two miles, l)t'iii<r ('ii:;lit of river and r<iuiteeii of lake iiavipi- 
tioii. W e pass nil (lie way the iiKnitli uf C'old River, wliirli 
is a tmhiileiit, crooked stream of some twenty miles in 
length, visiting in that distance three eoniities — Essex, 
Franklin aii<l Hamilton — emptying into the Racquette in 
the last named eoimty. We enter Long Lake soon after 
passing Cold River, which is simply Racquette River w i<ler, 
deeper and straighter than before. This lake is remarkable 
fo]- its straightness, for upon entering it at the foot nearly 
its whole length can be seen, and as you glide along over 
its placid waters yon are apt to be deceived by ilistances. 
Such is the deception, that an island situated about half- 
wav up the lake seems to recede as you approach it, Ijecause 
of which it has been called Steamboat Island. The shores 
of the lake ai-e in some places bold cliifs, and in others just 
the opposite, gentle and sloping. At the head of the lake 
is seen Owrs Head Mountain, 2,825 feet above tide; and as 
you pass along, on the east can be seen Mt. Kempshall and 
on the north the blue summit of Mt. Seward, wdiich is 4,384 
feet alxive tide watei". The lake is sixteen miles long, about 
one-half mile at its widest place, and is 1,(314 feet above 
tide. Along its banks are built numy private camps, w liich 
are very attractive. Among those especially noted by the 
Republicans of oiii- committee was that of Senator 
Thomas C. Piatt. 

We arrived at the hotel at about 8 p. ni., where we 
spent the night. Owing to the lateness of the hour and 
the darkness of the night but little could be seen of tlie 



78 Through the Adirondacks. 

place, but tlie bright sun of the next morning lighted up a 
locality of I'are attraction. As a summer outing place, it 
has few equals. Fishing is good in the lake, but the royal 
game is somewhat scarce on account of the deer having been 
driven off that section by dogs: but now that hounding has 
been prnhiliited, they will soon drift back. 



Through thk AninoxDArKs. 79 

CHAPTER \ll. 

ON DECK FOR RACQUETTE LAKE. 

At 9 a. 111. we are again on dt-L-k for Racqiiette Lake. 
Al)()ut foui' miles further on, at the head of Long Lake, we 
inakf a sliort carry of one-half niilf li\ Long Lake l{ai>iils. 
thence uj> river again one mile, to Buttermilk F'alls Rapids, 
arniiiid which is another hall' mile cairy, thence two miles 
of still water to the carry by Forke<l Lake Rapids, where, 
over its two miles of fairly good wagon road, our lioats and 
outtit are draw n l)y teams to Forked Lake. 

But I am anticipating, and am liiirryiug past one of the 
most interesting bits of scenery in the Adirondack wildei'- 
ness. T allude to Buttermilk or Phantom Falls, which are 
locate<l at the head of the carry around the rapids of that 
name. 

Doubtless many of my readers remember the notoriety 
given to these falls several years ago by that St. Hubert of 
his day, the Rev. W. II. H. Murray, better known as 
"Adirondack" iMuiray, Avho .startled the ] ml die with a 
thrilling account of his chasing a phantom Lidian maiden 
over the falls in the month of July, ISfiS, in a small skiflF, 
accompanied by his old guide, John Plumlcy. The story 
of the Indian maiden is, in short, as follows: 

An Lidian cihief of the Huron tribe who once lived in 
this locality had a daughter who bore the name of Wisti, 
which, when tran.slated, means Balsam. The girl fell in 



80 Throi:(;ii the Adikontiacks. 

love Avitli a Jesuit priest of Freiu-li descent wlioin the mis- 
sion ol' Canada liad sent to the tribe to convei't them. The 
Frciichmaii ictui'ned the maiden's love with ardor, Imt was 
liari't'd fiDUi inai'i'viiii:; her <in account of l)eiu^' a priest. 
Tlic i-cverend gentleman finally concluded that such a little 
thing as that onght nut to prevent their becoming one, and, 
urged on by desire, undertook alone a dangerous journey 
thr(Migh the dense woods to Albany for the pui'pose of 
returning to his home in France to get his discharge from 
the service in order to enable him to return and marry the 
maiden, Imt the brave though misguided priest was killed 
by Indians before reaching Albany. Before he left, how- 
ever, he agreed to meet the maiden one year from the date 
of his departure at a little cove on the Racquette River 
just above Phantom Falls. Promptly at the appointed 
time Miss Balsam w'as at the tiystiug place, but her priest 
failed to materialize, for the reason above stated, which she 
of course was not aware of. Ti'ue to her promise, in her 
little bark canoe, she paddled to the cove night after night, 
and, not meeting her lover, would sorro\vfully return to 
her father's camp, until finally, because of the failure of the 
Frenchman to do as he promised, she became crazed from 
grief, and one summer's night (date not given) she allowed 
her canoe to drift down until it was caught in the current 
and swept over the falls. 

The legend goes on to state that since that time, t\vice in 
each summer, that same scene was enacted, with tlie phan- 
tom of a beautiful maiden standing erect in herbai'k canoe. 




% 



v.>- 





Rev. H. H, Murray. 



ThIJIH CM Tllh: A |ill!((M>AlKS. 81 

This state of things coiifinncil until tlif yciir isilS, when, 
one beautiful evening in .Inly, 'Mr. Mm ray and his guide, 
Jolm Pinnilcy, (iiirtcd into the little cove i'm- the nigiit. 
They had been s[)eti(nng t he d.tv ^umew hefe up Nameless 
Creek catching big ti-ont, and I'ui-tliis i-e;is(>n were tired and 
hiingiy ; in fact, iSIi'. MuiTay said his lingefs were so stilV 
that he could scarcely unclasp iheni fidtn his jiaiidle staff. 
Unfurtnnately' for them, they had uncunscionsly clashed 
with die of Miss Balsam's semiannual dates. It is safe to 
say that tiie doctor woidd not have gone in tliei-e if he had 
been familiar with her habits, for he was not given to 
crossing dates with any one. John lMunile\ was to blame 
for he had seen something that wasn't human at that place 
at a previous date, l)vit he seemed to l)c given to getting the 
Reverend i)oct(>r into daiR-ing scrapes. He had steered 
him into a stag dance at Palmer's mi bong Lake ;ind a 
jacdv-hiintiug daiiee on a foggy night, and now he was about 
to steer him into a ghost dance down Phantom Falls. Hut 
to return to our story: 

" It was midnight. The fidl moon shovve(l her rounded 
orb above the eastern mountains, and across the tontrue of 
waters she [)oured her pure white radiance. Not even a 
rii)|)le broke the smooth surface. Above, the sky was 
cloiulless. Suspended in the still ether, a few of the larger 
stars struggled for existence. Weak and vain such rivaliy, 
for the Queen of Night held open audience and the lesser 
lights paled in her more brilliant presence. The woods 
were dumb. Silence brooded in the heavy pines and amid 
6 



82 Through the Adirondacks. 

the dark firs. The balsams, through their spear-like stems, 
yielded their fragrance upon an air too motionless to waft 
it. Even the roar ()f the rapids was so even in tone that 
instead n[' disturbing it seemed rather to deepen the all- 
pervading silence." 

The sentiment contained in the foregoing is indeed fine, 
and is just the kind of physical and spiritual condition 
necessary for a seance such as followed. The two tired 
hunters were just in the act of lying down to sleep for the 
night, when John, as was his custom, swept his eyes around 
to see if everything was all right, but upon reaching the 
cove, they began to bulge out as if they would leave their 
sockets. Turning to Mr. Murray he hoarsely whispered, 
" For God's sake, look there ! " The Reverend Doctor says 
that never l^efore Avas he asked to look at such a sight, for 
there, in the middle of the little cove, was a canoe, and in 
it a figure like a girl, and by an even and steady stroke 
with her paddle she \vas urging her boat out into the swift 
current of the stream. At that time Mr. Murray was not 
afraid of ghosts, so he promptly remarked to John in the 
common language of the streets, "Let us go for her!" 
And go for her they did liy jumping into their lioat and 
urging it towards her with all the force in their power, 
until at one time so near did they get that the reverend 
gentleman reached to seize the phantom and found nothing 
l)ut misty atmosphere. On, on, she led them, downstream, 
into the swift cui'rent, waving them back as she Avent, until 
finally the chase ended in their being sucked into the foam- 
ing rapids above the falls. 



TriHoiuit Till-; A I'IKondacks. 83 

But I lH'opnsc tn let the Kcvffcnil Dnrtoltcll tllc Itill- 

aiu-e iif the story liiuisclf. He ciu ilcsnihc ;i plnsical 
imj)(>ssil)ility so iniicli hfttt-i' than I: licsidt-s, thi-i'c is 
nothing like u'iving a story a sort of minislrii.-il tlonrisli to 
make it sound good. It was their intention to have 
Ijeaehed the boat just above the cascMdc, Init just as they 
reached the only spot where tjiis could We done, this is 
what liapi)ened to theni : 

"I tapped the side of the iio;it witli my paddle staff. 
In a moment I felt the answering jar IVom John, and knew 
that he had cauglit the heavy hooin which warned us to 
end the race. Down, down we went, past rock and Kulg- 
ing ledge, swept around a curve, an<l lo I the hemlock land- 
ing place was in sight. Right glad was I to see it. I saw 
the eddying pool which spun abreast of it, and marked the 
white line of foam fringing tlie lilack circle, and noted 
with joy how surely John was sending the l>oat to 
the identical spot from which, with one hrave stroke, we 
wei'e to jump her out of the tierce suction under the pro- 
jecting lianks. I had no thought of acci<lent. The faint- 
est suspicion of danger had not crossed my mind. With 
the thunder of the falls tillinic the air with a deafenini' 
roar barely thirty rods away, witli the siss of the current 
around me as we dashed down the decline, I felt as cahn 
and confident as though the race was over and we were 
standing on the ])ank. Nearer and nearer to tlie line of 
froth we flew. Straight as an arrow from a bow the light 
boat shot. I grasped ni}' paddle, reaching my left hand 



S4 Through the Adirondacks. 

well down to the ])liule, holding it in suspense and 
stretched far out ahead, ready foi- the stroke. The moment 
came. I dashed the paddle int<> the current and bent upon 
the staff. Even as I bent to tlie stroke, the sound of j'end- 
ing wood, a crash, a ([uick cry, piercing sharply through 
the I'oar of the falls, smote upon my ear. No words were 
needed to tell me what had happened. John had broken 
his paddle. The treacherous ash had failed him in mid- 
stroke. I did my best. I felt that life, sweet to all at all 
times, doubly sweet as it seemed to me then, lay in the 
strength of my anus. I threw the last ounce of power 
I had into the stroke. The elastic staff bent under the 
sudden pressure like a Damascus blade. It held ; but all 
in vain. The siiction was too strong. It seized John's 
end of the boat, whirled it around, and sent it flying into 
the middle of the stream. It is said that men gi'ow cool in 
danger ; that the mind acts with supernatural quickness in 
moments of peril. Be that as it may with otliers, so it 
was with me in that fearful luoment. I knew that we 
must go over the falls. I felt that John must make the 
awful shoot. I had more confidence in him than in myself. 
As the boat spun around upon the eddy, I seized advan- 
tage of the current, and righted it, directing the bow down- 
stream. Then calmly turning in my seat, I reversed my 
paddle, and, holding it by the blade, reached the staff to 
John. He took it. Never shall I forget the look on John's 
face as his fingers closed on it. No word was uttered by 
either of us. No voice might make itself heard in the up- 



Through the Adirondacks. 85 

roar. The moou made everything iihuost as ilisceruiljle as 
in the day. He took the paddle, understaiidiug my thouglits. 
looking straiglit at me. Upon his face was an e.xpressiou, 
plain as speech miglit make it, w iiicli said, ' All that man can 
do, Mr. Murray, all that man can do.' Then he passed the 
blade into the water. I saw him take two strokes, steady 
and (piick, then turn. Down, down we went. Oli, how 
we shot aU>ng that tremulous plane of (piivering water! 
I felt the shell tremble and spiing as John di'ove it ahead. 
A joy I cannot e.xju-ess thrilled me as I I'elt the boat jump. 
Hope rose with eveiy nervous stroke (»f the ])addle as it 
sent us flying toward the verge. No matter how we 
struck, providing oui' projection carried us bevond the 
deadly line of bubbles and the suction inwaid. i held my 
breath, seizing the rim of the boat on eaidi side with either 
hand, and crouched loiv down for the leap. The motion 
Avas frightful. My face seemed to contract and sharpen 
undei- the pressure of the air as I clove through it. 
How John could kee]i his sti'oke, rushing down such a 
decline, was and ever will l)e to me a matter of increasins: 
wonder. Yet quick and smiting as his strokes were, they 
were as regulai- as the movement of a watch. Down we 
glanced, straight for the middle of the falls and the 
smooth opening along the jagged lim. Lower and lower I 
crouched. Quicker and quicker junqied the boat, until 
the verge was reached, and, (piiveriug like a frightened lish, 
the shell, driven by what seemed to be more than mortal 
strength, with a mighty leap spj'ang out into the air. So 



86 TnRoroii the Adirondacks. 

nicely had long custom taught us to balance it, that keep- 
ing the incline given by the current, it clove through the 
cloud of rising mist, [)assing clean out of it befoi'e we 
touched the water ; for even as we hung above the abyss, 
I saw the deadly line was passed and we were saved. The 
l)oat, keeping the angle of declination, struck the water 
and went under like a pointed stake hui'led from the hand, 
and Jolin and I were left struggling in the current. We 
swam to the edge of the deep pool and climbed upon the 
sloping ledge, lay foi' a biief time motionless, and side by 
side in the deep sliadow of the pines, our faces prone on 
our ci'ossed aims, filled with deep sense of life delivered, 
and witli emotions know n only to Him with whom, with 
the rour of the falls, out of whose hell of waters we had 
been snatched, rising around us, we held communion. At 
the lower end of the pool we found our boat with John's 
broken })addle beside it. Shouldering the shell, and strik- 
ing eastward, we soon came to the carry, traversing which 
we (|uirkly reached the I'iver, and launching out upon it, in 
five minutes stood where the opening sentences of our 
stoiy found us wi'inging our clothes beside our rekindled 
camp fire." 

I trust Mr. Murra}-, should he chance to read this report, 
will pardon me for retelling his thi'illing story, for which 
I can offer the following excuse : Several times each year 
since it was first published I have read it over, until I had 
almost come to believe it, but aftei' being permitted to see 
the falls myself, and note the physical impossibility of 
such an act as running them in a small skiff, I concluded 



Through the Adikonuagks. 87 

that the whole tragic varii was a dream of such thrilling 
character as to warrant a reproduction, \vhich has hatl the 
effect to compel me, if not to eiivv, to resi)ect and admii'e 
a mind tliat could put such a (Quixotic dream into woids. 

Tlie writer carefully inspected tlic falls, a dcsci'iption i.f 
which I will now try to give. The river at that point falls 
al)out thirty-five feet, some fifteen feet of wliicli is con- 
tained in aliout ten roils of rapids aI)ovc the main fall. 
The channel of these rapids is filled with innumerable 
rocks, against which the wati'r dashes w itli such foi'ce as to 
chuin it iuto foam, resembling biitteiinilk, hence their 
name. Buttermilk Falls. The main ledge over which the 
water tumbles, more or less abrui)tly, is elevated in the 
center, which has the effect of parting the waters in the 
middle and sending them toward either baid<, close to the 
edge of which they take an al)rupt tumble of about twenty 
feet to the rocks below, then tui'ning almost a right angle 
they join again in the center and flow on downstream. 
Mr. Murray says that they went straight for the middle of 
the falls. That route would lia\ e landed them hish and 
drv t>n a biu' iiranite ledije, as the water does not run over 
the j-ocks at that point ; that is to say, rarely evei- in the 
summer months. Five minutes' inspection will con\ince 
anyone that no living thing on earth could run the falls 
and come out alive, except it be a tisli, and there would be 
room to doubt as to whether it could nuike them success- 
fully at all times or not. The cascade is, however, very 
pretty, and when the water is high it must l)e a beautiful 
and grand sight. 



88 Through the Adirondacks. 

AVlien at Long Lake the writer met John Pliimley, 
Miii'ruy's old guide. He is now liale and hearty, and sev. 
enty-two years old. He infoiined us that lie moved into 
the woods at the age of six with iiis father, who was the 
Hrst white man that settled on Long Lake, and that he, 
John. IkkI lived tliere ever since. He remembered Mr. 
Murray very well, and remarked that he had spent many a 
hapi)y day with him in the woods. We asked him about 
the Phantom Falls dream, and he replied, " Ask Muri'av." 
We inquired if Mr. Murray was still living, and if so, 
where. He named the place of his residence, and said he 
was alive and well enough to li\e where his father li\'ed 
and to work on a farm. The old gentleman seemed to feel 
very proud of the notoriety he had gained by having been 
associated with such a famous man as the Rev. W. H. H. 
Murray. 

Mr. Murray was a true lover of nature, born, as he says, 
of hunter's breed and blood, and was a \\'oodsman (jf no 
mean order and a general all-round good fellow. 

But to return to my party, which I left at the foot of 
Forked Lake. This lake is about four miles long, and is so 
named on account of its peculiar shape. It has numerous 
setbacks and bays, and is surrounded ])y dense and primi- 
tive woods, whicli add much to its beauty. A part of it is 
owned by the State, and it is a splendid place for summer 
camping. Its waters abound in lilack bass and both kinds 
of ti'out. Passing through this lake, we again make a 
carry of one-half mile into Raquette Lake. This lake 







^ 



Through the Ahirondaoks. 89 

is called the "King of tlie Wooils,"' heiiig al)(>ut nine miles 
long, and at ditferent points three miles wide. It has also 
deep bays, which seem to set Kack in places almost out of 
sight to the east and west. On this account it is said to 
have ninety-seven miles of coast. It is an ngly lake to 
navigate \vith small 'boats or skiffs in a storm, because 
no advantage can betaken by skirting its shore, as the only 
course for such crafts is through its center. However, 
small steamers make the circuit of the lake, thereby dig- 
pensing with the necessity of rowlioats. The most of the 
lake is in Township -10, Hamilton County, and belongs 
to the State. There are numerous e.vceedingly beautiful 
j)rivate camps on its shores, made after the rustic style of 
architecture, which have no established formula except the 
sweet will of the builder. Some of them are models of 
fantastic design, notably among which are Pine "Knot 
on South Bay, Echo Cam[i on Long Point, Camp Fairview 
on Ofspray Island and Deerhurst Camp on Kenwell's Point. 
Our attention was called to the fact that these fine structures 
wei-e all built on leased land. Under the law of 1891, the 
Forest Commissioners were empowered to lease lands for 
tive years, Init our last constitutional convention annulled 
that law, so that now no such lease can be given. The ques- 
tion of what to do with those who held a lease under the old 
law is a problem w liicli oui- Forest Commissioners are now 
trying to solve. It was the judgment of our committee that 
the present occupants ought not to be asked to abandon their 
camps without being fairly well paid for the expense they 



90 Through the Adirondacks. 

have been to iii making them. Some sort of a settlement of 
tliis kind ought to be made upon the expiration of each 
lease, and such camps destroyed or left for the free use of 
anyone who desires to camp there ; at least, this would seem 
to be the best course to take in the matter. 

We also notice that several men of note make their sum- 
mer home on this lake, among whom are Dr. A. G. Gester 
and Dr. S. D. Powell, both emiiient physicians of New York 
City ; Senator McCarthy of Syracuse, Senator Henderson 
and AV. W. Durant, and over on the north side of the lake is 
seen the Tabernacle of Past Grand Master James Ten Eyck 
of Albany. 

There are also several well-kept hotels on the upper part 
of the lake, notably the Hemlocks and the Antlers. We 
spent the night at the latter. Its proprietor, Mr. C. H. 
Bennett, somewhat granger like in appearance, seems to 
anticipate the wants of his guests, so much so that the house 
is home-like and comfortable. It stands on an exceedingly 
pleasant site on a commanding bluff on the southern end 
of the lake. This place is noted for its o]ien-air sleeping 
camps or shacks, with a big wood fire in front, where, if one 
has any Indian proclivities or tendencies, he can indulge 
them to his heart's content. 




< 



Through the Adirondacks. 91 



CHAPTER XIII. 

POCKET-KUniON STEAMBOATS. 

The steamboats used in this section seem t<> be of the 
pocket-editioii kind — one would think he could buy three 
of tliem for tive cents. If any consideral)le nund)er desire 
to go the same trip, their baggage is bai-red, that is to say, 
on the steamer. This condition of tilings is remedied, 
however, by an additional puntdike craft being towed 
behind u]>on w liich Itaggage is stored, and should there be 
too much of a load of passengers ou the little steamer, the 
overflow are provided with a seat in the annex, llence, 
when this gang started out, it rfscmided a train of trolley 
cars hitched together. Thus hampei-ed, speed is not to be 
expected and comfort not to l)e considered. 

At 3.30 \K in. we boai'ded one of these crafts for Blue 
Mountain Lake, thirteen miles in a northeasterly direction. 
After steamins: over two miles of the lake, we enter the so- 
called Marriou River, which is sim[)ly another name for a 
section of Raquette River, for this stream is as much u 
j)art of the Racpiette system as is Long Lake. This river 
has nothing to recommend it for beauty, or otherwise, 
except its shortness, being only four miles long. Its chan- 
nel is as crooked as a ram's horn anil its l)anks are covered 
with dead, scraggy cedars which are killed liy the overflow 
caused by some flood dam, which was built for the purpose 



92 Through the Adirondacks. 

of making the stream navigable for small steamers. After 
twisting up this muddy slough four miles, a carry of one- 
half mile is made, by teams or on foot, as you please. Our 
committee preferred to go on foot, as the Car of Juggernaut 
})rovided for the transfer suggested no improvement on the 
steamboat ; besides, there was some good shooting on the 
way, that is to say, at a mark. 

At the head of this carry ^ve fintl another Great Eastern 
awaiting us, upon which we proceed on our crooked way 
one-fourth of a mile further, when we enter Utowana Lake. 
This body of water is about two miles long, straight, nar- 
row and ri\er-like in a}>pearance, yet not without many 
beautiful features. At the head of this lake we again enter 
a rocky, crooked brook, called Eagle Lake Stream (another 
misnomer for a section of the old Raquette). 

One-half mile up this brook, dodging around rocks, and 
then ninning against floating islands, we enter Eagle Lake. 
This lake is small but very pi'etty, the distance through it 
being about one-half mile. It has, however, a history of 
some interest on account of its being preempted in the year 
1856 by that famous old story -writer, Ned Buntline, who 
built a log house on the northern shore and cleared thirty 
oi' foi'ty acres of veiy poor land, upon which he used to 
play farming with questionable success. He was not much 
of a farmer, whatever he may have been as a story-teller. 
Some very funny stories are still told of this singular old 
man, one of which will bear repeating : 

Soon after settling on the lake, he began to think that it 




' a 



02 
X 



Throui;h thk Ai>ironi)Ac;ks. J)."! 

was his, and that no one had a right ti> fish on the same 
witliout asking leave of him. This condition of tilings was 
not full}' conceded by all the sportsmen who came that 
way. P^inally, one more venturesome than others i-esolved 
to try titles, and one morning anchored his l>oat over one 
of Bnntline's best fishing holes and commenced to fish 
Presently Ned caught sight of the poacher, and coollv 
walking into tlie house, he took down his old gun, and 
calling his guide, they jumped into his boat and started for 
the poor fisherman at railroad speed. It is said by those 
who heard them that the l)lood-curdling yells uttered by 
Buntline in that battle had never been equalled in that 
section since the Indians left it ; l>ut that was not all; he 
actually began to shoot at the iimocent fisherman, and 
several times came dangerously near hitting him, until it 
became too hot foi' him and he hauled in his lines and 
stai'ted downsti'eam. with Ned after him, shooting and yell- 
ing like a red Indian. From that time on he had no further 
trouble from poachers. 

The log house l)uilt by the old seafaring story-writer is 
still standing, and is pointed out as one of the attractions 
of that locality. 

At this point we were confronted with a very singular 
structure for this section. Spanning the stream, at a sufli- 
cient height to allow our steamer to easily pass under, with 
abutments made of stratified stones that must have been 
foreign to the locality, stands a finely constructed rustic 
bridge. It shows no marks of ever having been crossed 



94 Through the ADiRuNnACKs. 

by teams; in fact, no oai'i'iage road is seen to or fi'oni it, 
yet there it stands, an expensive struotui'e, partly c(jvered 
with vines, a l)i-idge that would attract attention if hnilt 
across any stream in the State. Upon the stream face of 
its southern abutment, sunk into its rocky wall, is a bronze 
plate bearing the following inscription : 

' " IN MEMORY OF 

1>R. CHARLES CLARK DUKANT 

Projector, Builder, Vice-President and Gen- 
eral Manager of tlie tirst Transcontinen- 
tal Railway, the Union Pacific. President 
and Builder of the Adirondack Kail way. 

ERECTED BY HIS SON 

WILLIAM WEST PURANT 

ANNO DOMINI 1S91." 

He must be a true son of his noted father to have conceived , 
such a monument so far from civilization. 

After leaving this lake, and passing through its inlet or 
connecting link with its near neighbor, we enter Blue 
Mountain Lake, a fine body of water, nearly round and 
about three miles across. In addition t(^ its natural beauties, 
this lake has, if we accept the theories of such scientists as 
Dana and Agassiz, a history of the earlier periods of the 
world which are of colossal interest to the student of 
geology. If the age record of this body of \vater were fully 
known one of the most important secrets of world-making 
would be solved. Dana says that the shores of this lake 
constituted the first dry land on our globe, and that the 



Throhoh tiiio AniBONDACKS. or; 

lake itsfir w ;is the first iii<livi(lnal Imdv of water <>f any 
considerable size dii this earth, and adds tliat America, 
geologically speaking, is the old rather than the new world, 
l)eiiig the first horn among the continents; and Agassiz 
says, speaking of the mountain ranges in this locality, "that 
we may walk along their summit and feel that we are 
treading upon the granite ndge that first divided the waters 
into a northei'ii and southern ocean, and if our imagination 
carry us so far, we can look down to their base and faiicv 
how the sea washed against this early shore of a lifeless 
world." In the I'ocks in the vicinity of this lake not the 
slightest trace of a fossil can be found, so it would lie a 
waste of time to go there expecting to find any fossils or 
even any variety of rocks. If a specimen of the first cool- 
ing crust of the earth is desired, it can be found there w^ith- 
out doubt. 

The committee spent the night at the Prospect House, 
which is f)ne of the most imposing structures seen on the 
route. Its location gives it a commanding view of the lake 
and niountains. It has long, wide and spacious piazzas, 
which are so arranged as to catch the cooling winds of that 
elevated region. If the place will bear criticism at all, it 
would be that there was too much civilization. One has 
but to shut his eyes to imagine that he is in Newport 
or Saratoga, as the houses have the same style of 
architecture. The other hotels in that locality we did not 
visit, but weie told that they were well kept and first-class 
in every respect. 



90 Thuouoh the Auiro.ndacks. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

BACK TO THE ANTLERS. 

Our route to-day is in i)art a retracing of our trip of yes- 
terday back to the Antlers, where we dine, and then pro- 
ceed on our journey with the same steamer outfit as before 
up the Brown Tract Fond outlet, which is a swampy, dead 
timber swale, through which the steamer twists its way, in 
some places so crooked that at times one is left in doubt as 
to which Avay he is going. Once we came near being 
^vrecked on a floating island. Four miles of this kind of 
navigation and we ari-ive at the carry to the eighth lake of • 
the Fulton Chain. Here we meet teams for the baggage, 
but the passengers prefer to walk, as the road is very poor. 
The distance is about one and one-half miles, and about 
halfway ovei- the carry is tlie di\iding line of the Ra- 
quette and the Moose River watersheds. A close observer 
will note that for about halfway over the water runs 
toward the north and the balance of the way south. 

At the eighth lake we find anothei- ancient craft waiting, 
this one a shade less comfortable than those on the other side, 
and although not as deep as a well or as wide as a ch u rch do( >i', 
we found that it would do to float us across the lake, it being 
oidy one and a half miles. The captain, engineer and fii-e- 
man — three in one — of this wheezy old steam punt \vas a 
character. When \ve boarded his l)oat he was in pi-etty 
fair condition, which was quickly noticed by our New 



THHorfiH THK ArUItiiM.ArKS. 97 

^ orU (•(iiitiiii^ciit, ;iii(l al'ttT braciiiu; liini up snriif irioic \sitli 
a few (loses <>i' iiioiititaiii dew (lie lialaiicc of tlic ride was 
made all tn<i i|iiickly, I'of the slidw we \\ci-c lia\ Iiil;' was 

hcttci' than a cii-ciis. So coiirused did ll Id rcjli.w 

becoiiu' that he liiiim the inoid<('v wrench oii the safety 
valve of his little iipiiLiht steam eni^ine until her pipes 

l)ecanie red hot, which he proceeded to ( I olT with water 

lalioriously dijiped from the lake with his old w hite hat. 
If ever there was a human talkim:' mill on eai'th. that 
old skippei' was one. His e.xperieiice in life was of long 
dui'ation and of \aiious degrees ami conditions of servi- 
tude, in that short half hour spent in crossing the lake 
we listened to the life history <>f .'i nnin who Lad steam- ' 
I)oated it on the Mississip]ii for si.vty yeai's, had l)een a 
sailor in four wars, had circumnavigated the earth twice, 
had heeii up in a Kalloon and down in a coal mine, e\'ei'y- 
where on earth except the North Pole. In fact, lie had 

"Sailed around the world witliouc going wrong, 
Had slain a great crocodile rhirty feet long, 
ll;i(l killed a great whale and towed liini ashore, 
Tamed sixteen lions and killed a wild lioar," 

and was, accor(_ling to his own dates, one hundred and 
seventy -five years (dd. 

At the foot of this lake we were met liy teams and 

'dven the choice to ride in comfortable carriaires eiijht 

miles oi' make another carry of one mile to seventh hike, 

where we would continue our steamboat experience 

t 



1)8 Through the Adiuoxoacks. 

through the seventh, sixth, fifth and a part of the fourth 
lake to Eagle Bay Hotel, situated on the north shore of 
Eagle Bay, on that lake. We were told that the lake 
I'Dutf was uninteresting on account of the overflow of the 
streams through which we would have to go, and foi- this 
reason we chose the carriages and enjoyed a nde over one 
of the best pieces of road of the same length in the State. 
It was liiiilt. we were told, by one of the Durants, on con- 
tract, some portions of which, it is said, cost three thousand 
dollars per mile ; whatever it cost, it was a good Job and a 
credit to its builder. 

We arrived at Eagle Bay Hotel at 6 -p. m., where we 
spent the night. This house is very pleasantly situated on 
the north shore of the lake, and is surrounded by a num- 
ber of cozy little cottages, one of which was chartered to 
our committee for the nie;ht. 




a 
u 

o 

O 

b 

a 



Throigh THi; Adikdndacks. 91) 



CHAPTER XV. 

RETURN TO CIVILIZATION. 

In |ir(>|iurti<iii us we aiiprdafli cin ili/.atiMii (lie nicaiis nf 
traiispditatiiiii iiiijiruves. The boats from loiirtli lakcilown 
to Old Forge are of coiisiiK'ialili' size ami with fairl\' ixoo<| 
ju'cotiimodatioiis. Our trip throu^li foiirtli, tliinl, sccoml 
ami first lakes was exceedingly j)leasaiit. One is reiiiiiided, 
however, that he is lapidly approaching the outside Imsy 
world, for signs of commerce and traffic are noticeable along 
this route. Oj>position lines of steamers contend with each 
other in the coiinnoii carr\ ins-' business; inducements are 
offered in the way of cheap fares, and mic ran ride all the 
way from parlor to freiglit car arcommodatious. 

The shores of these lakes are ornamented by innumeralde 
private camps or cottages, which serve to give the locality 
a sort of camp-meeting appearance, all of which may be 
pleasant to some but unattractive to others. Just before 
reaching first lake we pass the rustic cottage of e.x-Presi- 
dent Harrison, and we wonder why such a man can content 
himself with camping there when there are so many 
grander sites further on. 

Just ])efore reaching Old Forge we pass the jilace <-alled 
Indian Point, where the last Indian of the .Vdiioiidacks 
was killed, beins shot when in his boat on his w a\ ui> river 
on a hunting trip, for w Inch crime one Nat Foster, an old 



100 Through the Adikondacks. " 

trapper and hunter, was tried and ac(^iiitted at Herkimer in 
tlie iiioiitli of September, 1834. Tlie Indian's name was 
Drid, and lie belonged to the St. Regis tribe. He was 
killed in July, 18;53. 

We dined at the Forge House at Old Forge, after whir-li 
we took the ti-ain on the Webb road for Childwold Park 
Station, about forty miles ))y rail. As we rolled along in 
up-to-date cars and were carried through the forest at a 
forty-mile gait we fully realized what folly it would have 
been for anyone to undertake to build such a road, espe- 
cially in the winter season, unless he had, as the saying is, 
"money to liui'u." Its builder. Dr. Seward Webb, is a true 
lover of the woods. However, it is an open question as to 
whether or not he was working for the best interest of the 
forest when he channeled through it and laid a track f ( ir a 
railroad train; but it is done, and whether good oi' bad, 
must be considered as reflecting credit upon its indomitable 
promoter. 

As we rode along we noted other evidences of the Doc- 
tor's gigantic undertakings, one of which was the Iniilding 
of a barbed-wire fence, eight strands high, around forty- 
five thousand acres of forest land, for a deer park ; in doing 
so he dou1)tless fenced in a laige number of the native ani- 
mals, to which he has added various other breeds of the 
deer family, such as elk, moose, caribou and black- tailed 
deer. Surely he has chosen a novel and manly way to 
spend his money, and has done something that \vill cause 
him to be remembered so long as water runs in the Adiron- 
dacks. His preserve is called Ne-ha-sa-ne Park. 



F 








^•ntA'w ^M 


S'''Wl^||^?aH 


1 
i 


^r-^y ■ 








HH^HjH 


--N 






" 








' 1 


^^^^^^KEL^ ^ /^ 'J^l^^^^^^^ttMv ' 



TlIROIGII THE AUIKONDACKS. 101 

AVe arrived at Chiklwold Park Station at 5 o'clock, 
where we were met by comfortable carriages that conveyed 
us to Massawepie Lake, or the I'ai'k Hotel, tsix miles iioi-th- 
west over a very good roail. The lake is a) )out three miles 
long by one wide, ami is a Hue body of water, with bliill' 
shores thickly covered bv dense eversrreen foliage that has 
never l)een disturbed by the axe of the wondsniaii. Where 
the lake and r(_>ad meet we tii'st catch sight i>f an itii|">sing 
structure <>n the northern liank of the lake, some two miles 
away, that reminds one of an iniinense castle, looking as if 
it had l)een jiieked up in some foreign land and dropped 
down heie in the woods. Such is the appearance of Hotel 
Childwohl when seen at a distance. This scene is lajiidly 
changed, howevei-, on arriving at the hotel, as we find our- 
selves confronted with Yankees from New England, l)uteli- 
men from New York, Quakers fi'oiii Pliiladelphia, and ivp- 
reseutatives from almost every State in the Union, all bent 
on having a good time. We are soon comfortably ensconced 
for the night. 



102 TilUiiUtJII THE AnntnMi.Vi'KS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

DEER IN ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

Tliis (lay was wholly given to the iuspectiuii of this 
locality. A tri[) to Racquette River, Downey's Lauding 
and Bickuell's roiut ^vas made iu the forenoon, and to the 
lake and other points of interest in the afternoon. That 
locality in the past has been much favored for this reason. 
Hounding of deer has been prohibited for years in St. 
Lawrence county, and for many years it has been allowed 
in Franklin county, (-hildwold Park is very near the 
Franklin county line ; hence deer that were started by 
dogs in that county very naturally made for the park to 
free themselves from their savage l)rute pursuers. It was 
a well-known fact that many and many a dog died iu a 
" gale " of bullets soon after being discovered on the St. 
Lawrence side of the couuty line. The deer were not only 
protected in St. Lawrence, but, iu addition, large numbers 
were annually driven over there from Franklin, and for 
this reason, and also for the reason that the Racquette 
River, which is well stocked with pickerel and black bass, 
runs on the northern border of the preserve, and De Grass 
River, which is ci'owded with brook trout, skirts its 
southei'u boi'dei', and also because very good lake trout 
fishing is to be had in the lake itself, it possesses sporting 
advantages enjoyed by few localities in the Adirondacks. 

Many of the writer's first lessons in woodcraft were 
learned on the Racquette in this locality. Up to the year 



Through the Auiuondacks. 103 

1870 Raquette River was a fine stream for trout fishing. 
About that time a man l)y the name of Lisand Hall, for 
some hellish reason that has never yet been fully explained, 
emptied a pail of small-tVy pickerel into the waters of Long 
Lake, and that was the dt-athkncU of trout fishing- in the 
lva([uette. As the i)iekerel inci'eased in numi)ers, which 
they speedily did, they promptly cleaned out the smaller 
trout, but the larger old fellows, in order to protect them- 
selves, made their way int^p and up the small tributary 
sti'eanis, over shallows and into deep holes, w here the pickerel 
could not follow. 

About a mile and a half above Childwold Paik Landing, 
on the Raquette, a small brook empties into the river, and 
is called Mountain Brook. Being encamped witli a ]iartv 
of friends, one sununer in the early seventies, near there, 
the writer, in company with Mr. James Lemon, of Potsdam, 
N. Y., spent a day fishing up that ])rook, and when nearly a 
mile from its mouth we discovered a deep hole that was 
literally full of big trout. We were not very well equipped 
to capture them, however, having nothing but a Darrick rig, 
that is to say, fi.xed line with no landing net. The pool 
was Mot more than twelve feet across each way. I wielded 
the outfit and Mr. Lemon stood by to capture the whales 
aftei' I had tamed them down and halter-broke them. In 
one hour we took from that ]iool fifteen ti-out that weighed 
forty-five pounds. Two of them would weigh at least five 
pounds each. Subsequent visits resulted in our catching, 
from the same hole, twenty-nine fish, inchuling first catch, 
whose combined weight was seventy-five pounds. 



104 TiiKoucTi riiK Adirondacks. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

BIRTH OF THE HAMLET OF CHILDWOLD. 

One <l;iy in the early spring of 1878 there walked into 
tlie post ()fH(;e in Putsdain a venei'able looking gentleman, 
with tliat coimiiaiKling ap[)earance and deportment which 
would at once stamp him as a teacher or professor of 
that old school I'oi- which the city t)f Boston, Mass., has 
become so widely noted. He in(piired if he could lie fur- 
nished with a list of the postmastei's of the county, and 
upon receiving an answer in the affirmative, he jiroceeded 
to dictate a small handbill, giving notice that the under- 
signed owned a large. tract of land near Lake Massawepie, 
in St. Lawi'ence county; that he \vonld sell a portion of 
his land in small tracts, suitable for farms, to suit pur- 
chasei-s, at the extremely low [)rice of from one to thi'ee 
dollai's per ;xcre, and that he would be found, in the future, 
on the lands mentioned. To this notice he fixed the name 
of " Addison Child." 

Although his deportment at that time smacked a little 
of dementia, yet later events have proven that the old man 
was sane, and that his scheme was not a visionaiy one. The 
bills were sent to the several postmasters, with the i'e(pie8t 
tliat they conspicuously post tliem, and this act was the l)irth 
of the present hamlet of Child wold, al)out two miles west 
of Lake Massawejiie. Mr. Child built foi' himself a log 
house in the center of the new settlement, and for the next 



THnOUGH TIIK AliIUONKACKS. l(l."i 

ten years busied Limself in lookiii"- jit'tcr tlio interests of 
his tenants and tlie develdiniicnt nf liis Ijctroiigli. Among 
other things, he Imilt a tliini(l<'rsli(i\ver sauniill nn t]i(^ 
outlet of Jock Pond, to aitl in luiildiiiL;- lioiisi-s and coxci- 
ings for tlie inlialiitants of his new ( 'iiihlw old, as hf called 
it. But it would scein that a more iui]>(.irtant schenic than 
tluit of building u[i a fanning village was on his mind: 
that of erectinii a ureat hotel, which would serve as a 
market phice for the products of the farms of Ids teiumts, 
tlie building of winch was to be the crowning effort of bis 
life, as the old gentlenuui passeel away soon after its com- 
pletion and demonstrated success. 

The park is composed of 1('),000 acres of laud and water, 
a considerable part of which is tlie latter. There are 
scseral separate bodies called ponds in the vicinity of the 
lake, which serve to add to its pictures(|uene8s and beauty 
as well as to the hunting advantages of the preserve. The 
hotel was erected in 1889 by Mi". Addison Child and its 
[U'esent ownei' and proprietor, Mr. Henry G. Dorr, who 
was, in fact, the real power beliind tlie throne from the 
start to the finisli of the Cliildwold undertaking, but w ho 
modestly remained in the background. He is now, how- 
ever, at the front, and can be found at the house during its 
open dates quietl\- looking after the ct)mforts of its guests. 
Some pei'S(His are born wealthy and some are l)orn great, 
and then there are otliers who ai'e born to keep a hotel. 
Among the latter are the Lelaiid l)oys; hence, when it is 
know 11 that Charlie Leland, the crown prince of them all, 



106 Through the Adirondacks. 

is at present general manager of the Childwold hotel, that 
settles it. He seems to know just when, where and how- 
to do things that will add to the happiness of his guests. 
The hotel will acconunodate about thi-ee liundrfd guests, 
and is about sixtet-ii hundred feet above tide, an altitude 
which is said to l)ar out huy fever. 

IJut there are other advantages and attractions in that 
locality. One mile from the Pai'k House, on the northern 
l»ank of Catamount Pond, is located Pond View House, with 
Mr. Emery Gale, a lifelong guide and hunter, for its land- 
lord. What Emery doesn't know" about the woods, hunt- 
ing and fishing isn't Avorth investigating. Good accommo- 
dations can be had there for the moderate sum of from one 
to tw^o dollai's per day, with the same sporting privileges 
as are enjoyed at the Park House. 



Tiinocdn iiiK AmifoNHACKS. 10" 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FROM CHII.DWOI.l) PARK TO POTSDAM. 

From Child wold P.uk to Potsdam, in St. Lawrence County, 
there aiv two routes (ipcii to the tourist, one l)v way of the 
old Coltoii and Tapper Lake State Road, wliich is a pretty 
fair wagon I'oad of about foi-t\- miles; the other by way of 
small boats, with guide.s, dow u the rapid Racquette River 
to the foot of Hollywood Stillwater, twenty -four miles, and 
thence by stage or team to Potsdam, a distance of twenty- 
one miles, 'i'o make the latter, however, a steady nerve and 
considerable courage are needed. I will venture to say 
that there is no trip just like it in Araenca, but when once 
enjoyed it w ill never be forgotten. 

If the river trip is selected, upon arriving at the landing 
one ^vill be (juick to notice the difference in the build of the 
boats on this as compared to those on the other side of the 
mountains. They are made of the same material as 
the Long Lakers, so called, but are shorter, broader and 
shallower, and for this reason draw less water and can be 
handled with greater ease in the swift water. They also have 
ti.xed seats, which serve to strengthen them. Should they 
strike a rock sideways, this last feature is found to be quite 
inqxirtaiit at times, as will be observed. 

There are several good guides to be had at the Park 
House and at Gale's, who can be relied upon to make the trip 
safely, but in nt) case should a tourist undertake it without 



108 , Through the Auirondacks. 

an experienced boatman, and in that case make up his mind 
to be " boss(>d " around like a liircd man when the rapids 
are reached. 

Taking a seat in the stern of the boat at Downey's or 
Gale's landing, the journey commences. You glide over a 
short strip of still water for about eighty rods, and then 
youi' fii'st lesson of I'apids running begins, but of so mild a 
natui'e as to attract but little attention, as doubtless your 
guide w 111 row down through the quick water at Day's 
Point bow on, and if so, you will make the thirty rods of 
rapids in two minutes. Two miles of smooth water, called 
Blue Mountain Stillwater, and you arrive at the Pier 
Rapids, which look formidable enough from your boat, but 
ai'e not bad and are easily run ; at the foot of these you 
will be re(piii'ed to make a small cai-ry, necessary on account 
of a rocky dam that spans the river at this point. Over 
that, and you are afloat in the Burnt Island Stillwater, one 
mile in length. Down through its rocky channel your boat 
will glide until you reach its foot, and then look out, for 
there are breakers ahead. Here you will experisnce the 
first example of the nerve, skill and coolness of your guide 
in the management of his craft in the swift current, for just 
before you is about eighty rods of the most turbulent and 
contrary piece of s^vift water on the river ; hence its name, 
Hedgehog Rapids. 

Just before reaching the shoot you will notice a change 
in your heretofore sociable guide. You will note his 
anxious look, and see him take an extra large chew of his 



Through the Adirondacks. 109 

Navy Plug, tighten his belt up another hole, and yoii will 
also notice that he carefully inspects his oars to see that 
they are without flaw aii<l workiiin' freely, and \ciii will 
perhaps feel annoyed at his short, (pTuk answers to your 
(piestions, if he answers at all, \\ liich is ;is niudi as to saj' to 
you, "You mind your own liusincss and 1 will mind mine." 
Presently, with one stroke of his oar, your boat is revei'sed, 
u itli the stern dow iistrcaiii. Then you are conunandccl to 
reverse yourself and to crourli low in tlic boat, so that he 
may see the waters over your head. Then you glance down- 
stream and l)ehold the foamy waters just below, and are 
led to wonder if your small craft w ill stand the strain of 
the cascade, and before you have had time to think again 
vour boat has mounted the fii'st big wave of the lapids, and 
it settles and slips through it slickci' than a sled down a 
toboggan slide, and the rest of the ride is a pleasuic trip 
to you. 

Thereafter you will lie filled with satisfaction at the ease 
with w hicdi your boatman now di-ops his shell into the eddy 
of a big rock for a moment's rest, and then lets her slide 
on the swift ridge of waters that almost stand on edge, 
until another wave is mounted with the same results as the 
first, and in aliout three minutes you have I'un eighty rods 
of angrv waters and are floating safely in thf eddy just 
above Old Flat Rock. 

The writer speaks from experience, having made the same 
run many times himself, never but once, howevei', with a 
[lassenger, a history of which many be interesting. 



110 TmtiilMJH THE AlUItONDACKS. 

He was coming down tlie i-ivei- several years ago in com- 
pany \\itli Jiidge Theo. H. Swift, of Potsdam; upon reach- 
ing the rapids, Swift declined to walk over the carry. No 
ainountnf ui'gini,^ would induce him to go ashore, for, said 
he, " I have nevei' made these rapids, and now I propose to 
niii tlit'Hi, let the result he what it may.'' Two men who 
would rip the beam at two hundred pounds each is too 
much of a load to make the rapids safely, and so it proved 
in that case. Our light boat shot through the first waves 
of the cascade all right, and we were making fine headway 
until about halfway down, where the most-to-be-dreaded 
point in the shoot was reached, when, as Mui-ray says, "I 
heard the crash of rending wood, and no words were needed 
to tell me what had happened." In a k)Uil voice, above the 
roar of the falls, I shouted, " Jump, Judge, for your life I " 
This time he promptly took my advice and made a fright- 
ful leap, with " Yours truly " a close second behind him, 
and there we stood like the young Indian on a bold, barren 
rock, the Judge grasping his trusty rifle and myself a 
broken oar. How we ever got off that rock the Judge must 
tell ; 1 don't remember. 

Having safely made the raj^ids, you will notice that the 
good nature of your guide has returned, and casting your 
eyes upstream over the milky waves, you w ill think to 
yourself, '' Well, I don't wonder at his anxiety." 

Now prepare yourself for a rest, because you w ill need 
it before the trip and day is over. Moosehead Stillwater 
is si.x miles long, and for quiet beauty and modest scenery 




cr 



ii! 

o 
o 

« 

a 



Tllltnl i;ri TIIK A IH KONDAf'KS. Ill 

the level lias Imt few e(|Uiils in the State. About hall- 
way ilowii, al'tei- passing; throu<i;h a strip uf ipiick watei', 
yon reaeli Siiiitli's Island, upon wliicli Suivevoi' («. W. F. 
Smith, of Pots(hini, lias a veiy eonifnrtalilf canniiiii: place, 
and al>out a niiltr helow you will ei'oss the track of the 
(treat Windfall of I.s4r), win- re a fi'i<,ditfiil windstorm or 
tornado mowed a swath one-half milf wide and nearly 
one hun<lred miles louy; throuu'Ii the entire woods in .Iul\' 
of that yea)'. 

Arriving at Moosehead Landing, at the foot of the Still- 
water, your guide will halt there in order to arrange his 
load and lioat for the eight miles of rapids, the head of 
wliieh is in sight just helow. By this time you have 
learned to he good and to respect your boatman, an«i will 
(quietly watch him making his arrangements without offer- 
ing any suggestions. Vou will note that he yanks another 
hitch in his l)elt and bites off abotit half of his Navy Plug, 
which would indicate that he has a long, hard and exciting 
trial before him. This time you are not frightened, and 
proceed to seat yourself in the boat with feelings of safety 
born of experience and ai'e willing to wager that your 
gui<le can run any falls on the river. However, you w ill 
soon learn that you are mistaken. Suddenly, here you are 
again at the head of and looking down a canyon of a mile 
and a half in length, through which the waters of the river 
run at a speed ecpial to that of the Empire State Express. 
The channel seems to change from one side of the stream 
to the other, and in places to narrow up into canal-like 



T 



112 Thkouch the Adikondacks. 

chutes, into \vhich Imge bowlders are in places rolled by 
the acticiu <il' high watei' during the spring flushing season, 
which compels your guide t(t row his boat back and forth 
across the chasm many times before the still pool is 
reached at the foot of Moosehead Rapids; but at last you 
are safely over one of tlie most dangerous long stretch of 
rapids on the river. 

But you are not out of the woods yet "by a long shot," 
for just below is an island that intervenes to cut off the 
sight but not the heai'ing of the roar of many waters. 
Presently your guide will place his boat up against a flat 
rock on the east shore and softly remark, " I guess you had 
better get out here and walk over a short carry, for I don't 
believe 111 try to run Moody Falls, as only one man on 
earth ever did it, and he was an ignorant Canadian lumber- 
man, who, on wager, placed himself in the bottom of an 
old Maine bateau or river driver's boat, and, 'Let her go, 
Gallagher,' and the fool came out alive." 

As you walk along over the carry, you will pause to 
look into the hell of ^vaters, and if you desire to feel fairly 
miserable, just stand there a few moments and imagine 
your fate had you tried to run them. The fall here in the 
stream is not far from fifty feet. They were named for 
a man by the name of Moody, who, in company \vith his 
own son and another person (name unknown), accidentally 
lost their lives by being drawn over them one dark night 
in midsunuuer many years ago. Their bodies lie buried on 
Jamestown Falls Carry, some t^vo miles below. 



Throtioh the Adirondacks. 113 

A short two miles of still water, ••iiid .lamestown Falls is 
reached, wheiv the liver airaiii falls frnni lifty to seventy- 
five feet, and in doiiii;' su makes (nic i>l' the i^iandest sif;hts 
along its whole course. Tlir falls arc lali\riiitliian in form — 
that is to say, like a winding stairway — over which the 
water makes several step-like tumbles, which adds much to 
their beauty. 

-lust below these falls is a shori piece of still water of 
about one mile, and below that another rapids, which are 
three miles long, not especially ditticult to run, l)ut yet 
re(juiring a skillful man at the helm. These [tassed, you 
arrive at the head of }Iolly\\ood Stillwater; b\- that time 
you are hungry, and will dine at Hollywood House, w liicli 
is kept by another Ixn'ii hunter, Mr. A. H. Day, where 
quite likely both trout and vension will be found on the 
bill of fai'e. 

At this point will be fouml one of the most democratic 
summer resorts in the Adirondacks. For nearly a mile on 
the opposite side of the river from the Day House can be 
seen a regular village street, with cottages, some of them 
very pretty, at intervals of about ten rods apart, with a 
good sidewalk in front along the bank of the river. Each 
camper's lot is from ten to tiftecn i-ods front by twenty 
back, thus affording plenty of room to the occu))ant, and 
for old style fun and pleasure this summer outing place in 
the Adirondacks cannot be excelled. 

The six miles of good boating just below, called the 
Hollywood Stillwater, has many lu)me-like and cozy camps 



114 Through the Adirondacks. 

on its baiilvs. In fact, tliis water has numerous attractions, 
there l)eine: no better section iuv "fi'ee foi- all " deer hunt- 
insf within the Adirondack Preserve. Two miles from its 
foot is a short carry around Cany Falls, but big, good- 
natured Nelt Parmeter is usually there to help you over 
and to a big slice of vension, if you so elect, while you 
wait. 

Arriving at the foot of the Hollywood water, one will find 
a good, new hotel, recently built by its present landlord, 
Will Reynolds, from whom conveyance can be obtained for 
Potsdam, twenty-one miles. 

At Potsdam, where connection is made with the Central 
Railroad, there are a number of first-class, up-to-date hotels. 
A day or week can be spent there with pleasure and jjrofit, as 
it will be found one of the finest places of its size in the 
State. Especially is this true in regard to geology and 
mineralogy, foi' hei'e the first stratified rock of our old 
Mother Earth crops out and comes to the suface, uamely, 
the Potsdam Sandstone. Besides, the locality is rich with 
a variety of minerals that the student of geology can study 
vnth deep interest. 

The town is also noted for its bold hunting landlords, 
with Charles R. Holmes, of the Albion, as their acknowledged 
captain. Mr. Holmes, besides being an expert hotel man, 
can tell hunting stories that ^\ ill make each individual hair 
of your head stand on end ; in fact, all the brave hunters 
of his bailiwick uncover in his presence; hence a trip to the 
Adirondacks is never complete without a visit with Charlie. 



Through the Adiroxdacks. 11.") 

Having explored nearly tlie wliolc Ifugth of the Uac- 
quette Kiver, soiiH- of its legendary history may not Ije <>ut 
of place. 

Doiilitless fill' oiif liiiii(lred years l)efore and fifty years 
after the advent of the white man Racquette River (named 
after an Indian snowshoe) and its trilmtary streams and 
waters was the liome nf tlie ivd men, maiidy of the Hui'nn 
tribe. To(ds and inqilemeuts of the onl\' trade in w iiirh 
they were known to excel, that of tannine- and dressiuu 
skins, are found (Hiite frequently on its banks even at the 
present time, and on the shores of Big Tupper Lake well 
preserved specimens of ancient pottery ha\e been and still 
can be found. '^Plie same is true in regaid to stone inq)le- 
ments of warfare, such as tomahawks, axes and arrow heads. 
Aud during all that time it is safe to say that no river or 
sti'eam in Anieri(;a offered l)etter inducements in the way of 
game aud fish than (he Racquette. Besides, unquestionably 
there does not exist to-day in anv of the Northern States 
a bettei- c<mnecting link between those old tribes and the 
present — the Indians of one hundred years ago aud those 
of to-day — than can ])e found in the person of Rev. Mitchell 
Sabattis, of Long Lake, N. Y., for this reason. Tn the year 
1 750, as near as can be traced, there was born an Indian 
b\' the name of Pierjonn, which, when ti'anslated into 
English, means Peter Sabattis. This child of the TTui-ons 
was destined to ['lay a very important part in the history of 
the Raquette River Valley during his long life of one hun- 
dred and eleven years, for he lived until tiie year IStil, 



llfi Through the Adiroxdacks. 

retaining acleai- reiuemlii-aiice of his past life until the day 
of his (leatli. Tlie old wai'iior kept tally of his years on 
a notched stick. The old nuin was proud to boast that 
duriu!^' all those years he had never slept in a white man's 
bed. I have it from a man who entertained him many a 
night (the old guide, Kobert Fulton), and offered him as 
good a bed as he had in the house, l)ut the o\d captain 
would invariably say, "Me no sleep in white man's bed," 
and \\ itli his head resting on a stick of wood, he would 
proudly spend the night prone upon the kitchen floor near 
the stove. This man, although reared among fierce savages, 
strange as it may seem, had a lovable disposition, and was 
kind-hearted, truthful and reliable. There is scarcely a rod 
of land on either side of the Racquette, for several miles 
back from its mouth to its source, that he was not familiar 
with. There are many men now living who can recall this 
sturd\' old fellow, who continued to make his annual visits 
to his old hunting gi'ounds u]) the Racquette until tlie dav 
of his death. 

If there is anything that the white race are especially 
noted for, it is for promptly forgetting meritorious and 
beneficial acts of the Indian. This is due no doi;ljt to the 
fact of the general cruelty and unreliability of the race. 
Such characters as Capt. Peter Sabattis are few in the 
history of the race. It is not known that Sabattis took 
any special part in the War of the Revolution, although he 
was a grown man at the time, but it is known that he was 
friendly to the whites and aided materially in the War of 




MITCHELL SABATTIS, LONG LAKE, N. Y. 



Through the Adirondacks. 117 

1812. Ill that \v;ir it was tlioiight best, in ortlcito I'acilitiite 
iiiilitary operations along the noitlifiii frontier, to cut a 
road throiigli the then tlense forest fioin Lal<.t' George 
to Lake Ontario, the road ruiining as nearly as ])ossil)lc in 
a no|-th\vesterly course, and calh'd ilic < )ld N'fiiiiunt Ivoad. 
It is known that this friendly old tiappcr, who was tiicn a 
man d' ujiwardsof sixty years, Idazed the line and |iilot<'d 
tlie i-oad-inakei's througli ncai'ly one hunilre<l miles ot" un- 
known wilderness, and for tliis service lie was commissioned 
as captain, and as such was so called until the day of 
his death. 

Captain Peter had two sons, who were known to the 
people whi> live along the Rac(pU'tte River. The eldest 
was named Sol, and was boni on Sols Island, a large strij) 
of land in the Rac(piette, nearly one mile long, near ("hild- 
wold Park. Sol was educated for the ministry, but made 
a failure of the business. The (!aptain is saitl to have 
I'emarked in explaining why his son turned out tliat way, 
" No use to try to make anything of an Indian by education. 
You can't jHilish a brick ; heap rub; bime bye, brick all 
srone." Sol is dead; doubtless his education killed him. 
The Captain's other son is still living, and is seventy-four 
years old. He is the Mitchell Sabattis hereinbefore 
mentioned, that lives at Long Lake, N. Y. Mitchell was" 
not educated, and, strange as it may seem, is a temperance 
lecturei', and incidentally preaches the Gospel of Christ. 
Like the fisherman of old, his sermons must be a little 
crude, but, as he says, he has Divine aid, and adds, " I open 
my mouth and God puts the good w ords in." 



118 Through the Auihonuacks. 

There are iii;iii\ otlier legends and stories of an Indian 
character that could be related of the Rac(juette Valley 
trilies, luttalily aiiicuig which are the stories of Indian and 
C'aptaiu Peter's rocks ; the former is a big bowlder in the 
centei' of the Racquett near the place where the Webb road 
crosses it at the present time, a close inspectiun <if \vhich 
w ill reveal a deep hole or cave, in which the old ti'apper is 
said to have stored his furs in an early day ; and also Sols 
Island, named after the Indian Sol, upon whose rocky shores 
he was born ; the Indian burying ground on Hollywood 
Stillwater, Avhich was said to have been made necessary on 
account of an Indian battle fought there among themselves, 
and where the bodies of those slain in that family jar were 
buried ; and last, l)ut not least, Indian Rock, which is 
located about two miles above Carry Falls, in the upper 
Hollj^wood Stillwater. 

This rock, which is a large round bowlder, is elevated 
al)ove the water some three or foui' feet, around which the 
trout of those early days were wont to congregate. The 
Indians say that that rock was once the scene of a bloodj' 
tight between two braves ^vho had placed themselves on it 
for a, day's fishing. It seemed that they Avere rivals for the 
hand of one of the dusky maidens of the tribe, and they 
(|uietly agreed to fight it out on the rock with their 
tomahawks. The result was that one of the bucks received 
a blow fi-om the other's stone axe which felled him lifeless 
at his feet, covering the top of the rock with blood, the 
stain of which, it is said, can be plainly traced at the present 




a 






THROUOH TIIK AniRONDACKS. 119 

time. It is also snid that the victor proinpllN kickcil ilir 
l)()(ly off into tlic water and allowed it to float off down- 
stream, which last act cost him iiis life, for, while tln^ 
Indians might ha\'e CDiiddiKMl tlic killim;', they could nut 
tolerate the alnist' i>( tiic dcail, and tor this ad In- was tri('(i, 
found guilty, and sentenced to be shot on the nxk where 
he killed his lival. The sentence was carried out, atid his 
body was allowed to float downstream with his unlucky 
victim. 

We are told that, even at the present time, the liold 
hunter when out ja(d< hunting foi' deer at night gives that 
rock a w ide bei'th, and that it is not an nnconinion thing to 
see two Indian forms clinclic(| in deadly strife on the sur- 
face of that rock at midnight. However, this statement is 
not swoi'n to. 

Thus endeth this vobuninovis account of an eighteen 
days' trip through the Adirondacks. 



' / ^ 





John Urown. 




Ned Buntline. 



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